Here and Now
by CreateAnInsaneWorld
Summary: When Kendall's cousin, Nicolle Dalton, gets kicked out of her house, she moves in with the BTR boys in LA. With five 16 year olds in one apartment there's going to be some tension. Especially between Nicolle and Logan, who she's not happy with. How does she deal with the boys antics and settling into a new life? Somehow falling in love doesn't seem like the solution. No Slash.
1. I

_This idea has been in my head for some time now and I had to get it down. I am a full supporter of Logan/Camille. I just thought this would be cute if Logan fell for a girl who happened to be Kendall's cousin. Also the show never said what Ms. Knight name was so I'm just going to call her Ashley._

**Summary:** When Kendall's cousin, Nicolle Dalton, gets kicked out of her house because she told her mother that she didn't like her boyfriend and have her younger brother supposedly turn his back on her, she moves in with Big Time Rush in LA. She hasn't seen the guys since they were nine living in Minnesota before moving to Michigan. Now four boys and one girl, who are all 16, while living in a five bedroom apartment there are going to be some problems. Especially between Nicolle and Logan who she isn't quite happy with right now. Adjusting to a new town and a new life she makes quick friends with Camille, Jo and Stephanie, helps the guys with their relationships with said girls, makes a unintentional start to her own music career and deals with a dramatic and weird shift in her relationship with Logan. She's about to learn some new things like living in the here and now.

**_Disclaimer: I do not own Big Time Rush and never will. The closest thing to owning them are the songs on my iPod and their album I have._**

* * *

**Chapter 1  
****E-Mail Conversations from Michigan to California, Logan a Liar and Cousin Kicked Out**

_October 23, 2010  
__4:38PM_

_Hey Kendall!_

_What's up cousin? It's been a while since we talked last. I think just before you left for LA. I mean I know you're busy and all being Big Time Rush with the guys but I thought that we were close I guess I was wrong. Just kidding._

_I miss you and the guys. Can you believe that the last time we actually SAW each other we were nine? God seven years without seeing the four of you playing hockey. I don't like it. Granted it's my fault having moved to Michigan and all. Damn mom for getting transferred. Again just kidding. I love it here despite missing my four favorite boys._

_How's your mom? Last time I saw her was at your dad's funeral. She calls mom everyday to let us know how everything is. How's Katie? She was like five when I moved. Giving you a hard time? I would expect nothing less of her. She was always a handful at five. So many schemes for one little girl. LOL._

_How are the guys? Is Carlos still wearing a helmet? James has to be obsessing over his hair more than ever, am I right? And Logan? Still saying he needs new friends but ends up joining whatever idiotic plan you came up with?_

_Everything's awesome over here...somewhat. Mom has been dating this guy for a while now. I don't know about him. Chase likes him but then again all you have to do is give Chase some food and he'll like. There's just something off about...I guess. I don't know maybe I'm being paranoid thinking he's going to replace dad or something. I'll probably get over it._

_OH GUESS WHAT! GUESS WHAT! GUESS WHAT! I made captain for my soccer team! Oh I was so happy. Let me tell you when the seniors on the team told me I thought it was some sort of joke but no! I'm Captain of the Girls' Varsity Soccer Team! And I'm so excited I just can't hide it. LOL. I had to do it._

_Oh I have to go. Mom needs help with dinner. She's making her homemade lasagna. The boyfriend is coming over. Joy! I'll talk to you later._

_Bye  
__-Nicolle._

* * *

_October 23, 2011  
__1:52PM_

_Nicolle!_

_Hey, it has been awhile though I didn't realize it's been that long. Oh don't go laying on the guilt via e-mail. I swear you have to fun guilt tripping me._

_I miss you too. The guys feel the same. No I can't believe that it's been seven years. We miss seeing you play soccer and somehow hitting Logan every game. Though Logan probably doesn't miss that part._

_Mom's been good. I think she's finally moving on. I mean I know she'll never move on from dad but she's not moving autopilot anymore. So that's good. Katie is evil as ever. Always trying to make money. Usually on Big Time Rush now. And I know you helped her with all the schemes she 'planned' because while my little sister is smart for her age she couldn't have come up with a lot of the stuff she supposedly did._

_Guys are the...same as ever. Yes, Carlos still wears his helmet. Everywhere. James still obsesses over his hair but that one should have been obvious. Surprising Logan hasn't said that he needs new friends in a while. Though I'm sure he thinks it with all the things we get into. And my plans are not idiotic!_

_Give the guy a chance. He makes your mom happy right? And she deserves to be happy. I mean he died when you were what six? It's been ten years. Chase probably likes him not only for the food but because he's not the only guy anymore. Being around two females and being the only guy is not fun. I should know. I've experienced it._

_Congratulations Captain! I'm proud of you. I'm sure you completely deserve it. The seniors obviously think that you're the perfect choice for such a responsibility._

_I got to go. Pool time. Talk to you later.  
__-Kendall_

* * *

_October 23, 2010  
__2:12PM_

_NICKI!_

_HI. How are you? It's been forever since we talked last. I miss you._

_I heard about making Captain. Congratulations! You'll be the best captain ever for your team!_

_You have to come and visit us._

_James and Kendall are fighting over something. I don't know about what though._

_I have to go I'm hungry._

_Later Captain!  
__Carlos_

* * *

_October 23, 2010  
__4:20PM_

_Carlos_

_Aw I miss you too. I'm doing great. It has been forever since we talked._

_Thank you. I love being captain. It's amazing. The team is like super supportive._

_I wish I could visit. Maybe I can convince my mom to having Christmas out there._

_I swear those two are giving me a headache and I AM NOT EVEN IN THE SAME STATE! Honestly you find out what they're fighting about and I'll to knock some sense into them._

_When aren't you hungry Carlos?_

_Bye Popstar!  
__-Nicolle._

* * *

_October 23, 2010  
__2:30PM_

_Nike_

_YOUR COUSIN STOLE MY LUCKY COMB! Tell him to give it back. I can't get my hair perfectly perfect without it._

_Anyways, congrats on captain. You deserve it._

_Miss you. I need my best girl friend here with me. I love the guys I do but sometimes calls for my BFTAG (best friend that's a girl). Like now when I need MY LUCKY COMB!_

_Now I have to go and find it._

_Later  
__James_

* * *

_October 23, 2010  
__5:43PM_

_Jamie_

_Wow. Hi to you too. How have you been? I've been awesome thanks for asking._

_THAT'S WHAT YOU'RE FIGHTING ABOUT! Your freaking comb?_

_Thanks and I know I deserve it. Duh. LOL._

_I miss you too. No one in Michigan can replace you as my best friend Jamie. I love you but don't EVER call me your BFTAG again. Okay? Because I'll have Kendall take your lucky v-neck shirt and all of your bandanas. Don't think that I won't._

_Have fun looking for your comb._

_-Nike._

* * *

_October 23, 2010  
__5:56PM_

_Kenny_

_Give James back his comb. I can't believe you took it. Honestly I thought you were 16 not 6! What am I going to do with you two?_

_It's a gift laying on the guilt through e-mail._

_You do realize I never purposely tried to hit Logan. It just happened!_

_How was your pool time?_

_I'm glad your mom is moving on. She deserves to be happy too._

_As for Katie. I have no idea what you are talking about. I never helped her with her schemes. LOL._

_I'll try to give him a chance he just gives me the creeps like no other. Chase is happy about not being to the only guy but I think he knows that this guy keeps me on edge in a not so good way. It's just if I tell my mom I'm afraid she won't believe me. I don't know._

_Yes you're plans are idiotic. Need I remind you of what happened before LA.? You know how the four of you soaked the girls' field hockey team with water in the middle of winter._

_Later genius._

_-Nicolle._

* * *

_October 23, 2010  
__3:13PM_

_Nike_

_YOU WOULN'T DO THAT TO ME! WOULD YOU?_

_It was serious. You don't take my lucky comb. YOU of all people know that Nike._

_Of course no one can replace me. I mean I'm me._

_Alright fine I get it. I won't call you BFTAG again._

_Still haven't found my comb._

_That makes me sad. :'-(_

_Jamie._

* * *

_October 23, 2010  
__3:24PM_

_Nicki_

_I'm happy that your team is nice._

_YOU TOTALLY SHOULD COME HERE FOR CHRISTMAS! THAT WOULD BE AWESOME!_

_They're fighting over James' lucky comb._

_I can't help it that I'm always hungry._

_Carlos_

* * *

_October 23, 2010  
__6:06PM_

_Jamie_

_This is me we're talking about. Of course I would have Kendall do that and you know he would be all for it. LOL._

_It's a comb. Buy a new one._

_Still cocky as ever._

_Thank you because that was just embarrassing._

_You're sad because you still haven't found your comb? Why the hell am I surprised?_

_-Nike._

* * *

_October 23, 2010  
__3:10PM_

_Nicolle_

_Why would I want to give James his comb back when watching him freak out and look everywhere for it is so hilarious? You're going to love us forever and ever._

_Yes well tell that to Logan. Poor guy can't watch a soccer game without flinching. On TV. It's like he's expecting the ball to come out the television and hit him._

_Pool time was...amazing._

_Yeah. I happy for her too. Maybe the move was what she needed._

_Hmm. You keep on denying that you ever helped Katie but I know the truth._

_If you're really freaked out by this guy you have to tell your mom. I'm sure she'll understand._

_How do you know about that?_

_Kenny_

* * *

_October 23, 2010  
__6:19PM_

_Kenny_

_Because you love me and I said so? While yes it is funny watching James freak out like that if he never finds it then he'll be moody and which will make Gustavo angry and from what Logan told me awhile ago he's scary when he's angry._

_I always apologized to Logan and he never stayed mad at me. Does he seriously flinch from watching soccer on TV?_

_Pool time amazing huh? Who's the girl? What's her name? Is she pretty?_

_I plead the fifth on helping Katie._

_I know. I'll probably talk to her tonight after he leaves or something._

_I know what happened because Logan told me._

_Speaking of Logan. Any reason he hasn't talked to me? I think the last time I talked him was like a month after you guys left. I realize that I could e-mail him myself but I don't want to make a complete fool of myself if he doesn't want to talk to him._

_Oh. I got to go mom says dinner is done and her boyfriend is here._

_Love you cousin.  
__-Nicolle._

* * *

**PALM WOODS HOTEL  
****LA, CALIFORNIA**

Kendall Knight reread a part of his cousin's e-mail. He was confused. Logan hadn't been talking to Nicolle since a month after they left. He said he's been talking until lately. Why would he lie? He continue to stare at his computer screen in confusion when James came in still looking for his comb.

"Where is it Kendall?" James asked his friend. Kendall's eyes snapped to his in surprise.

"Huh? Oh here." Kendall threw the object to him and looked back his e-mail. James gave a yell in triumph as he caught it and ran it threw his hair. He sighed happily. He looked at Kendall about to say thanks but he saw the expression on his face.

"You okay man?" he asked. Kendall glanced at him for moment wondering if he should tell him about Logan. _James is Nicolle's best friend, _he thought.

"No. I just got an e-mail from Nicolle an—" He was cut off.

"What it is? What's wrong? Is she okay?" James asked worriedly.

"For the most part yeah" Kendall said, "but apparently she's upset because Logan hasn't been talking to her since like a month after we left." James looked confused.

"He said he had been talking to her until like a few weeks ago when we all got busy."

"He did but she said they haven't and I'm trying to figure out why he lied." Kendall said seriously, "He would never do that to her. He loves her too much. So the fact he did surprises the hell out of me and pisses me off because he hurt my cousin."

"I don't know why he would do it either but I'm going to find out why." James muttered darkly as he stalked out of the room. Kendall shot out after him wanting to be there.

They found Logan sitting on the couch playing a video game with Carlos and Katie.

"Logan!" James barked. The three jumped in surprise at the sound. Katie quickly paused the game.

"What?" Logan asked cautiously as he eyed his two upset friends.

"Kendall just told me something that I wasn't too happy to hear about." James started. Logan raised an eyebrow.

"Okay...?"

"About Nicolle." Logan froze and his eyes widen a little. _Crap..._

"You've been talking to Nicolle and didn't tell me?" Katie asked her older brother clearly upset about being left out from talking to her cousin.

"All day. Same with James and Carlos. Logan here though hasn't and I was wondering why?" Kendall said an edge in his voice. Carlos looked at him disappointment in his eyes.

"You haven't talked to her? I thought she was your friend?" he asked Logan.

"She is. I didn't know you guys were talking to her or I would have." Logan started.

"I told you, James and Carlos earlier today that she e-mailed me about making captain. You said you would e-mail her. So when she told me that you didn't and haven't for quite awhile I was surprised. Considering that you've been saying that the last time you talked her was a few weeks ago."

Before Logan could say anything the phone rang making all of them jump.

Carlos answered it.

"Hello?" He was silent for a moment before a grin broke out onto his face.

"Nicki!" James, Kendall and Katie rushed over to him. Carlos' grin was replaced with a small frown before handing over the phone to Kendall.

"Said she needs to talk to you and James. Privately." he said sneaking a glance at Logan who was looking down at the ground. Nodding Kendall grabbed the phone and left for his room with James behind him.

After James closed the door and made sure it was locked Kendall put the phone on speaker.

"Nicolle?"

_"I told her."_ The two confusedly looked at each other.

"Told who what Nike?" James asked softly.

A sob came from the other end. Both Kendall and James winced at the sound.

_"I told my mom what I thought of her boyfriend." _she said. James looked confused before Kendall quickly filled him in.

"And?" Kendall asked.

_"She threw me out."_

"SHE WHAT?" they yelled in shock.

_"She threw me out of the house saying I was a liar."_ she said again, her voice cracking at the end. Kendall looked over at James real quick.

"Go find my mom. Hurry." he told him quietly. James nodded before rushing out of the room.

"It's okay Nicolle. We'll think of something. James is going finding my mom right now." Kendall said to his cousin who continued to sob quietly breaking his heart at the sound.

* * *

**WITH JAMES**

James entered the living room to find Carlos, Logan and Katie still sitting in there. Carlos and Katie weren't sitting near Logan. They all looked up as he came in.

"Where's your mom Katie?" he asked before anyone could say anything.

"Down stairs. Why?" James shook his head.

"Just go get her. It's important." he said serious. "Now!" he snapped when she didn't move. She jumped up and ran out the door.

Carlos got up and walked over to him, Logan following.

"What's wrong?" Logan asked. James glared at him.

"Do you care?" James snapped at him. Logan looked hurt.

"Of course I care!" he snapped back causing James to scoff.

"Sure have a funny way of showing it."

Carlos stepped between them before the fight could escalate.

"What happened James?" Carlos asked. James continued to glare at Logan, who was returning the look before looking at Carlos.

"Nike's mom kicked her out."

The other two looked completely dumbfounded at the news. Katie arrived with Ms. Knight at that moment.

"James what's going on? Katie said it was an emergency." Ms. Knight said worriedly looking around for anything wrong.

"It's Nicolle. Her mom kicked her out."

"She did what?" Ms. Knight asked suddenly furious at her sister.

"She's on the phone right now with Kendall. Maybe you could talk to her." James asked quietly. Ms. Knight followed James in to the boy's room.

Kendall looked up as his mom entered the room.

"Nicolle. My mom is here. Why don't you talk to her for a few minutes okay?" Kendall asked his cousin gently. After a moment he handed the phone to his mom.

"Help her." he asked his mom desperately. She nodded taking the phone.

"Nicolle. Honey. What's wrong?" his mother asked his cousin. He and James walked out of the room to leave her alone.

They both sat down on the couch tiredly.

"Did her mom really kick her out?" Carlos asked softly. Kendall nodded.

"Why?" Logan asked. Kendall just glared at him. Katie walked over to her brother and sat next to him. He wrapped an arm around her pulling her to his side.

"Will she be okay?" his sister asked with a surprisingly small voice that sound wrong coming from her.

"I don't know."

They all went quiet. After ten minutes Ms. Knight came back into the room. Her face furious.

"Kendall. James. Pack a small bag. You two are coming with me." she said. Her voice tight.

"Why?" they asked.

"We're going to get Nicolle. She'll come and live with us." At those words the two in question rushed to their rooms.

"Why do they get go?" Katie asked clearly upset.

"Kendall is closer to Nicolle and James is her best friend. You'll stay here with Logan and Carlos. Logan you'll be in charge okay?" she asked the teenager.

"Of course."

"I just have to call Kelly and make flight arrangements."

"I can call Kelly for you Ms. Knight." Logan offered. She smiled in thanks before going to her computer in her room.

Logan sighed before reaching for the phone.

"You're an ass."

He looked up at Carlos.

"I know." he agreed before dialing Kelly's number.

He not an ass. He's a bastard and he knows it.

* * *

**8 HOURS LATER  
****CHANCELORVILLE, MICHIGAN**

The three of them arrived in Michigan two hours ago and checked into a hotel twenty minutes ago. Now they were on their way to a friend of Nicolle's where she was right now. They pulled into the drive way of the place where Nicolle was currently at.

The house was a small two story country house. It was painted white that has been weathered from age and nature with green trimming and porch. The yard was creatively decorated for Halloween. It looked to be like a cemetery. Kendall and James looked at the headstones and were surprised to see Nicolle's name on one of them.

_**Nicolle Dalton  
**__**Soccer Captain  
**__**Right Midfielder  
**__**#18**_

Looking around the other headstones they noticed they were similar. A girl's name, a position and a number. They realized that it was the soccer team that Nicolle was on. Nicolle and the couches 'headstones' were the biggest.

They finally reached the door. Ms. Knight knocked somewhat softly since it was so late at night. The door opened a moment later to show a women who looked to be in her late thirties with dirty blonde hair and green eyes that were framed in thin black glasses.

"Ashley Knight?" the woman question. Kendall's mother nodded.

"Come in. Come in it must be cold out." The woman said. The three walked into the warm and inviting house. James looked around the room but didn't see Nicolle.

"Where's Nicolle?" he asked. Kendall elbowed him in the stomach causing him to grimace.

"I'm sorry for being rude ma'am. I'm just worried about her." he explained to the woman who just smiled understandingly.

"It's okay. She's upstairs with my daughter. I'll get her for you." She told them.

Ms. Knight quickly thanked her as the woman left. She glared slightly at James who shuffled from foot to foot.

"I said I was sorry." he mumbled. Kendall rolled his eyes. They heard footsteps rushing down the stairs and quickly looked over at them. They saw a girl that was about 5' 7" with long chocolate brown hair with blonde highlights pulled into a messy ponytail. Her hazel eyes were framed by a pair of thin green and maroon glasses. She was wearing a pair of blue and yellow flannel pajama pants, a slightly baggy black sweat shirt with _Chancellorsville Raiders _in orange lettering, a white tank top underneath, and a pair black Etnies skateboarding shoes. Her eyes were slightly red and puffy from crying with dried tear tracks on her cheeks.

"Nike?" James asked hesitantly at the girl. He hasn't seen his best friend since they were nine. He knew she wasn't going to look the same but it was still a surprise to see a pretty sixteen year old girl and not an adorable nine year old little girl.

The girl in question felt her eyes fill with tears at the sight of her aunt, cousin and best friend and the nickname that James calls her. She rushed over to James wrapping her arms around his torso as she started crying again.

Kendall watched as his cousin started crying in their best friends arms and his heart completely broke for her. He hated his aunt for doing this to her. He hated his aunt's boyfriend for brainwashing his aunt.

"Nicolle?" A girl's voice cut into the silence and they all looked up to see a blonde around their age with brown eyes. She looked at Kendall and James in confusion before recognizing them.

"Yeah Carson?" Nicolle asked with a broken voice as she pulled away from James but let him keep an arm around her shoulders. She felt Kendall step closer to her and take her hand. The blonde girl quickly looked away from the two boys who just happened to be part of a band that she and Nicolle were listening too upstairs.

"Are you leaving?" Carson asked quietly. Nicolle quickly glanced at her aunt who shook her head.

"We won't be leaving for a couple of days. We just wanted to check on Nicolle." Her aunt said softly. The woman who was obviously Carson's mother walked back into the room. She looked at Nicolle wrapped up in the two boys.

"Would it be okay for Nicolle to stay here tonight?" the woman asked Ms. Knight.

"Of course."

"You're welcome to stay the night here since it's a late." the woman offered.

"Thank you but our hotel is just twenty minutes away."

Ashley Knight noticed how her niece and goddaughter, son and a boy who was like another son all cling to each other tighter at her words. She looked over at the other older woman.

"Would you like something to drink Ms. Knight?' she asked gesturing to the kitchen.

"Yes please. A water and call me Ashley." she followed the other woman.

"Miranda." The two shook hands. They looked back at the teens.

"Why do you guys go talk upstairs in the den?" Miranda asked as Ashley nodded in agreement.

The four teens went upstairs. Ashley felt some tension leave her body with a sigh. A glass of water was placed in front of her as she took a seat at the table.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"I don't just mean for the water. I'm talking about what you did for Nicolle." she said softly.

"I know and it's no problem. I love Nicolle like she's my own. She's been best friends with my daughter since she moved here." Miranda explained with a small smile.

"I can't believe my sister would do this." Ashley said as she closed her eyes and took a sip of water. The cool liquid felt refreshing against her throat.

'I was surprised too when she explained what happened. I offered to let her stay here but she said already talked to you." Miranda said.

"I don't want to take her away from her life here. I honestly don't but I think that she should get away for a little bit. I think that it would be best for both of them." Ashley said. The other woman nodded in agreement.

"You're probably right."

* * *

**WITH NICOLLE, JAMES, KENDALL AND CARSON**

Nicolle sat on one of the couches curled up against James with her head on his chest and her legs curled into her body. Kendall sat in front of her almost like a bodyguard. Carson sat on an arm chair to the right of the couch. The four teens were silent.

"We should probably call the team to let them know I'm leaving." Nicolle told Carson softly.

"Yeah. I'll send a mass e-mail for an emergency meeting." she said as she got up and left the room.

"Are you okay with leaving your life here?" Kendall asked as he turned around to face her.

She shook her head.

"No but it's probably for the best. I need to get away from her." she said. She felt James tighten his arm around her and she snuggled her head in chest breathing in his scent to remind her that he was really there.

"What does Chase think of this?" Kendall wondered.

"He thinks mom is an idiot but won't say anything to her." she said lying bitterly.

"She'll come around Nike." James said gently. Kendall nodded in agreement.

"I doubt it."

They were silent for a moment after that.

"Carlos misses you." James said all of a sudden. Nicolle felt a grin spread across her face at the mention of her goofy helmet wearing friend.

"I miss him too. I can't wait to see him and Katie." she said as she looked at him. She turned to Kendall, "Did you find out why Logan wouldn't talk to me?" she asked him.

Both Kendall and James looked uncomfortable as the glanced at each other.

"Uh...well...you see...he said that you two have actually been e-mailing each other up until a couple of weeks ago."

Nicolle looked at him shocked before narrowing her eyes. Kendall wince involuntary at the look despite knowing it wasn't directed at him.

"You're serious?" Both of them nodded. "The bastard." They grimaced at the name though knowing it was fitting at their friend at the moment.

"What would possess him to say that?" She asked them.

"I don't know."

Nicolle rolled her eyes before yawning. James looked at the clock on the wall to see that it was close to midnight.

"Come on why don't you go to bed." She clung tight to him.

"Don't go." she said in a small voice.

"We don't want to but I promise we'll be back tomorrow. Okay?" Kendall asked softly. Nicolle sighed knowing they were right and nodded.

They got up from the couch and went to down stairs to see Ms. Knight and Miranda in the living room.

"I was just going to call you. We need to go back to the hotel." Ms. Knight said gently.

The three teens just nodded. She went up to her niece.

"We'll be back tomorrow okay sweetie?" she asked the younger girl.

"'Kay Aunt Ashley." she said softly as the two hugged. Pulling away she watched as Kendall and James hugged Nicolle.

"Thank you again Miranda." Ashley said softly as they walked to the door.

"No problem."

The two women said goodbye before Ashley walked to her car with the boys following behind her and Miranda closed the door with Nicolle watching from the stares.

Tomorrow Ashley Knight was going to confront her sister. That's not going to be fun.


	2. II

_I just want to thank those who have reviewed the story so far and that I am so sorry that I have not updated in a while. I was swamped with school because it was my senior year of high school. (Off note: I AM NOW DONE WITH SCHOOL!) Anyways, I should be able to update more often now but I also have to work as well. Got to pay for college somehow. Right? But I only work like three days a week for like four or five hours. _

_Expect updates at least every two weeks. I mean I'll try and have new chapters up every week but I'm setting it for two weeks to go with my process. I write the chapters out on paper to help see where I want to go and then I type it up and post it. So depending on how fast I write I should be able to get updates soon. _

**Waffles of Doom -** Ha. I love your pen name. I'm glad you find the story interesting. I wanted to do something different. I've been seeing stories about another girl group coming to the Palm Woods and the guys falling of them and while I liked the concept of one of the guys falling for someone that is not a character on the show I didn't want them to from a girl group. Then my mind formed the idea of what would happen if one of the guys fell for Kendall's cousin. Then Logan being the guy who fell for came to mind and I finally added James being the girl's best friend. I honestly didn't think that i would have any readers on this since its from a character's point of view that I had created.

**JamesMaslowBTR100 - **It's fun to write this! Thank you, I love hearing people say that I'm a good writer. Oh wow. I hope that doesn't sound cocky or anything. LOL. By the way, awesome pen name.

**Cali OzeraKaulitz -** Thank you. I'm glad you love it. Yeah, I know I'm trying to fix them while writing the other chapters. I'll probably end up fixing them once the story is done.

**KyroxIsxSmexy - **I know Logan is totally being a jerk! LOL. Which I know is totally out of character for him but his side of the story will be explained in either chapter 4 or 5. The relationship between James and Nicolle is so much fun to write. I wanted to give James a softer side to those he cares about. Don't worry Nicolle will react to Logan in two ways.

_**PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING AUTHOR NOTE!**_

_Another thing I wanted to say was that I changed something things around in chapter 1. I realized that how I was writing chapter 2 didn't match up with the last chapter. For instance, Nicolle's friend from Michigan is changed to Carson. This is because I used the name Cameron in my Pair of Kings story and I don't like using the same name for a character that I made. Weird I know. Also its small but at the end of the chapter when Kendall asked Nicolle about Chase had thought about their mother kicking her out. You'll noticed that I added a word to the line which changed the whole thing completely but it fit with how I ended up going on in this chapter. _

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Big Time Rush. I only have their album so that is about the closet thing of owning them I have.**_

* * *

**Chapter 2  
Pictures, Stuffed Animals and a Memory or Two. **

Ashley woke up earlier then she had wanted to the next morning. it was about seven in the morning and she wanted to get some of Nicolle's things packed and sent over to the Palm Woods as soon as possible.

She was sitting at the table with her hands wrapped tightly around a cup of coffee (the transfers from the California heat to Michigan cold kind of shocked her system a little. _And I thought Minnesota was bad in the fall_, she thought) when James walked in. His hair was tousled and his nightclothes were rumpled with sleep. He rubbed his eyes to wake himself up as he walked over to the table.

"Mornin' Ms. Knight." he mumbled tiredly. She faintly smiled at the boy.

"Good morning James. How did you sleep?" she asked him. He yawned before he could say anything and looked up at her. She could see faint dark circles under his eyes from lack of sleep.

"I've had better nights," he stated. She knew that he was worried about Nicolle and her heart swelled with gratitude at the younger boy. She also knew that out of all of the boys that Nicolle was probably closer to James, not even Kendall, her own cousin, was as close to her as James was. She knew that he would do absolutely anything for her (not that Kendall, Carlos and Logan wouldn't either but James wouldn't let absolutely _anything_ stop him from getting to her niece) and she was grateful for the loyalty he showed her.

"Once Kendall wakes up and we have breakfast we're going to go pick up Nicolle and then head over to her house." She told him gently. He perked up at the mention of his best friend but faltered once he realized what was going to happen.

"You're going to talk to her and then she's going back to that house, right?" he asked in a small voice. Her heart broke at the sound; he sounded way to young to be sixteen. She shook her head slowly.

"Why don't you go wake Kendall up and I'll explain over breakfast, okay?"

James nodded before going back to the room that the two boys had shared the night before.

She sighed tiredly once he was out of sight and drank the last of her coffee.

_It's going to be a long day._

* * *

**ROQUCE RECORDS  
LA, CALIFORNIA  
WITH LOGAN AND CARLOS**

Carlos and Logan entered Gustavo's office only slightly hesitant. While Logan had told Kelly that Kendall and James were out of town he didn't explain the whole story to her. They had left Katie back at the Palm Woods with Camille, Jo, and Stephanie to keep her company. They had given them a quick and condensed version as to what had happen the day before and they were all the more willing to help. With the door open they saw Gustavo yelling at Kelly, not noticing that half of the band was standing in his door way.

"What so you mean they're out of town? I didn't give them permission to go out of town!" the larger man screamed at his assistant, who merely rolled her eyes and let out an annoyed sigh.

"Logan didn't tell me why they left, just that they did. I'm sure that once they arrive they'll explain what is going on." she reasoned with him. He gave her a glare that didn't faze her at all.

"Then call the two here now!"

Carlos chose that moment to say something.

"But we're already here." He said to them only slightly confused. Kelly whipped around, startled at the new voice while Gustavo just turned his head as he sat behind his desk.

"Dogs! What's this about Kendall and James being out of town?" their manager demanded. Both teens were hesitant to say anything but they figured that it would be less of a hassle then for Gustavo to start screaming at them.

"There was a family emergency that they had to take care of." Logan replied vaguely. He could feel the glares that both Gustavo and Carlos were giving him, the latter obviously still upset about yesterday. Kelly raised an eyebrow.

"Kendall and James aren't related." She stated, the confusion was clear in her voice. Both the boys shook their head.

"No, they aren't but they had to go to Michigan to deal with something that had happened to Kendall's cousin, Nicolle." Logan started. He saw Kelly was about to say something but he continued on, "Nicolle is James' best friend. The three of us have known her since we were about four years old and while Nicolle is close to all of us; she and James have this bond making them even closer. Not even Kendall is that close to her."

"Fine. When will they be back?" Gustavo asked although reluctantly.

"A few days, a week the most." Carlos answered. They saw the older man start to run red as he realized how much time they would lose from work. Kelly also noticed this and intervened before anything major could happen.

"What happened for them to go to Michigan? If you don't mind me asking." she asked curiously. Logan and Carlos glanced at each other, unsure if they should say anything but ended up shrugging their shoulders in defeat knowing they would find out sooner or later.

"Nicolle's mother kicked her out of her house for something. They went over there so she could move in with us." Logan said slowly, "Ms. Knight is going to be calling you later that has something to do with that." He finished, his last sentence directed toward Kelly.

"Oh that poor girl. How could someone do that to their child?" she asked rhetorically, the anger was subtle but there in her voice.

"Even I'm disgusted." Gustavo agreed with a revolted look on his face. The boys glanced at him in surprise.

"You two can go back to the hotel. We'll work on choreography when they get back." He said with a dismissive wave of his hand.

The two teens backed out of the office, just a bit apprehensive, closing the door behind them. They looked confused as to what had just happened.

"_What the hell?"_

"_Did that just happen?"_

"_Not going to question it."_

"_Might want to leave before he changes his mind."_

They muttered back and forth between them before deciding to rush out of the building, leaving the slightly weird encounter behind them.

* * *

**NICOLLE'S HOUSE  
CHANCELLORSVILLE, MICHIGAN**

After having a quiet and tense breakfast Ashley, Kendall and James had picked up Nicolle from her friend's house. Once Nicolle was close enough she practically latched onto her cousin and best friend; the same being said for the two boys. All three were seated in the back of the SUV rental. She was sitting between them with her head resting on James' shoulder and her feet, the shoes off, were snuggled under Kendall's right leg. Her right hand was clasped with her cousin's, where they rested on her knees and her left one clutched the brunette boy's hand, where they were on his leg. Every so often, he would rub his thumb over her knuckles softly, while Kendall gently squeezed her hand reassuringly. Those gestures, paired with her feeling safe and warm for the first time in twenty-four hours she drifted off to sleep.

In less than five minutes she was fast asleep. Both boys looked at the girl who was one of the most important people in their lives.

"I hate this," James said quietly for only Kendall to hear, "I hate what this is doing to her."

"I know James. I hate this too." Kendall agreed with his friend. He would be lying to himself if he never thought of James having feelings for his cousin. Even back when the whole group was still together in Minnesota, those two were _always_ at each other side. Also, they seem to need to have some sort of physical contact, whether it is a brush of the arm, a punch in the shoulder, touching of the hands, arms, or shoulder, or even holding hands with the more than occasional hug. He honestly doesn't understand the bond the two have; he just knows that he's a little jealous. He knows he has no right to be jealous over something that he does not understand he can't help it; Nicolle is _his_ cousin, not James'.

"Kendall? Man, you okay?" his friend asked. Kendall blinked, apparently lost in his thoughts before moving his eyes to James.

"Hmm? Oh yeah, I was just thinking." He told him, not wanting to bring _that_ subject matter up just yet with everything that is going on.

They were silent after that for a few more minutes before James spoke again.

"What are we going to do about Logan?" he asked. Kendall, having forgotten about Logan hurting his cousin, furrowed his eyebrows in deep concentration.

"Personally, I think we should let Nicolle go after him," Kendall told him. James opened his mouth to say something but the blonde continued, "and then we go after him, but we'll need Carlos and Katie's help. So, we can figure it out when we're back at the Palm Woods." James thought the idea over before agreeing. A half a moment later a smirk appeared on his face.

"We need to get Camille, Jo and Stephanie to help too." James said causing Kendall to smirk, though more for a different reason.

"Sure you just don't want to spend more time with Camille?" he asked him. His smirked grew when he saw his friend look uncomfortable and the feeble glare that he was receiving.

"Like you wouldn't want to spend more time with Jo?" James retorted. He was satisfied when his friend's smirk was wiped away and started to blush faintly. Kendall opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted.

"You know, you really need to tell me about your friends very soon." The muffled voice of the girl between them said. She lifted her head from James' shoulder and removed her feet from underneath Kendall's leg. She started to put her shoes back on.

"Though, I'm guessing that this Jo is the reason why pool time was _amazing_?" she asked with a snicker as she made a reference to their email from the day before. She grinned widely as her cousin blushed deeply. James snorted a laugh beside her causing Kendall to glare to the two.

"Yeah, well why don't you ask James about Camille?" Kendall shot, hoping to get the coming interrogation away from him. It worked as Nicolle snapped her head to the other boy, who glared at him again.

"Camille, huh? Pretty name." she stated calmly. James raised an eyebrow.

"Mmh-hmm."

Before any more words could be said, the car finally stopped in front of a house. The carefree and teasing atmosphere that had surround the three teens just moments ago disappeared as they gazed at the before them. Both Kendall and James felt Nicolle tense at the sight of her house and reached to grab her hands again.

Glancing at the clock, which was thankfully still on, Nicolle sighed in relief.

_10:08 AM_

"She won't be here." She said to her aunt, who had been quiet, the whole car ride. "She's at the hospital working."

"Do you know when she'll be back?" her aunt asked. Nicolle didn't look at her while she answered but instead straight ahead.

"It's what? Saturday. Meaning she's been at the hospital since seven this morning and won't be home till six tonight. If we're lucky she'll be home to fix lunch and check to make sure the house is still standing at 12:30 on her lunch break."

"Nicolle? Is she gone a lot?" her aunt asked gently. Nicolle shook her head.

"No. She usually only works nine to six on most days, which is mainly during the week; weekends she tends to have off but she'll end up with an eleven hour shift occasionally." She explained.

"Alright then. Why don't you three go up to Nicolle's room and start packing." Ashley told them as they got out of the vehicle. James and Kendall, though reluctant, released their hold on Nicolle and went to grab the boxes from the trunk.

As they made their way to the porch, the front door opened revealing a boy about fourteen years old. He stood about as tall as Kendall maybe a couple of inches shorter and he had the same dirty blonde hair. If Kendall and the younger boy stood side by side they could have been mistaken for twins. The only differences, besides their age, were the eyes and the build of their bodies. Where Kendall had green eyes, the boy who stood before them had hazel, he also had a more muscular built as opposed to Kendall's more lean body.

"Aunt Ashley? Kendall? James? What are you guys doing here?" the boy asked confused. He looked over to his sister hoping for some answers but she refused to look at him.

"Nicolle?" her younger brother asked. She didn't want to look at him and hear his words again. She didn't want to hear what he said to her. So instead of looking at him she turned her back on him, facing the neighbor's house across the street.

"We're here to pack Nicolle's things, Chase." Their aunt said as gently as she could.

"Pack? What are you talking about?" he asked. The confusion in his voice caused something to snap in Nicolle. She spun on her heel and gave him such a heated glare that he actually flinched and stepped back.

"I'm sorry were you not here last night? Or did you forget that _she_ threw me out last night just because I told her that I thought her boyfriends was a creep? Or was I just being _delusional_?" she asked stressing out the last word. Unfortunately, it triggered something for her to hear the rest of his words from the night before.

"_Stop being delusional Nicolle. I know that you don't like mom's boyfriend but I didn't think you would be such a cold bitch and try to ruin something that makes her happy since dad died."_

Tears gathered in her eyes as she felt Kendall and James move to stand behind her for support. It was one thing for him to call her cold and a bitch, she could handle that but to bring up their dad was completely differently story.

"Nicolle—" she cut him off not wanting to hear what he had to say.

"Don't. I'm just some cold bitch that ruins everyone's happiness, remember?" she asked rhetorically. She could practically feel Kendall and James tense up behind her. She took a deep breath hoping to calm down a little then turned her head toward Kendall.

"Come on. Let's get started on the packing." She told them. Nicolle, going back to ignoring her brother, walked up to the porch and into the house. She closed the door behind her and lent back while closing her eyes and took a shuddering breath. She tried to push the tears away but a few escaped and leaked out of the corner of her eyes. Quickly wiping them away, she could hear James talking to Chase angrily, though she was only able to catch a few things from both of them.

"Mind tell me what that was about?" her best friends asked, strangely calm. _Do not hurt him James, _she thought recognizing the tone.

There was silence after that or at least that's what she thought.

"Sorry. What was that?"

"She's just being dramatic James. Nicolle's not the nine year girl you used to know. She's changed and I don't know if it's for the better. Get out while you can." She heard her brother tell him. She choked out a sob at his words.

"Nicki?" she heard her cousin whisper in front of her. Looking up at him through her tears she fell into his arms and cried into his chest. His arms wrapped around her shoulders protectively, pulling her closer to him, as she encircled her arms around his waist.

_I hope you hurt him James, _Kendall thought to himself as he whispered random things to comfort the distraught girl.

* * *

**FRONT PORCH  
WITH JAMES**

James felt helpless as he watched Nicolle brush past her younger brother, her body tense with emotion. He looked over to Kendall, who nodded, understanding what he couldn't say out loud.

_Follow her. She's needs her cousin for this one._

He looked back at Chase, the anger simmering just under his skin but he kept it in check. He could practically hear Nicolle thinking _Don't hurt him James._ As Kendall and his mom walked behind the house, hopefully there was a door, he made his way over to Chase.

Once he was close enough he met the hazel eyes of the younger boy—the same hazel eyes as his sister.

"Mind telling me what that was about?" he asked calmly. _I swear to god if he says the wrong thing I'm gonna kill him, _he thought honestly. He wasn't a violent guy by nature, not counting when he's playing hockey of course, but if someone wronged somebody he cared about then the fists would just started flying. He could count the number of times he actually threw the punch first on one hand. Add to the fact that it was Nicolle that was hurt made it almost unbearable for him.

He heard Chase mumble something along the lines of nothing. Nothing. _Nothing my ass, _he thought sarcastically.

"Sorry. What was that?" James asked crossing his arms over his chest as he stared at the fourteen year old. He watched as Chase sigh in annoyance and roll his eyes before speaking louder.

"She's just being dramatic James. Nicolle's not the nine year old girl you used to know. She's changed and I don't know if it's for the better. Get out while you can." If it was at all possible his body grew even more tense at the words but once he heard a muffled sob through the door he just absolutely lost it.

Before he even registered what was happening his fist connected with the side of Chase's jaw. He hissed as pain shot through his hand but ignored it as he roughly pushed the kid into the side of the house. His arm was just underneath his chin, applying just enough pressure to make him uncomfortable but still be able to breathe. James looked him in the eye, his own hazel orbs were blazing with anger. He brought his face closer to his, their noses almost touching.

"You're sister was kicked out of the place that she has called a home for the past seven years by _your_ mother," he said softly, the cool and collected anger just oozed through his voice like a soft silk, "and only because she told her mom that her boyfriend made her feel uncomfortable. Also from what Kendall had told me last night was that Nicolle said you knew he made her feel weird. So , why are you turning your back on her?" he asked, spitting the last question out as the anger let loose a little.

"You don't understand James. Trust me when I say its better this way." Chase told him seriously. There was something in his voice that cause James' anger to deflate some. Slowly, he nodded to him, understanding that to some degree Chase was just protecting his sister. He stepped back, giving Chase some room to relax before punching him in the cheek this time.

"_Shit James! What the hell?"_ Chase yelled through the pain that was radiating from his face. He probed his cheek and jaw causing him to wince in pain – _and fuck that hurt, _he thought.

"You still made my best friend cry. I can't just let you go for that just because you're her brother." He said with a shrug, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. He walked past Chase, who was not sitting on one of the chairs that were set out there and opened the door carefully to make sure no one was leaning on it on the other side. _Never did understand Nicolle's thing with leaning against a door that could open at any moment, _he thought to himself.

When no one was there he opened the door wider and quickly walked in, accidentally slamming it behind him. He rushed over to the kitchen, hoping to get some ice for the pain that he could suddenly feel coming from his hand. He nearly jumped when he spotted Ms. Knight sitting at the table, already wrapping a bag of ice in a towel. She stood up and walked over to him, handing him the bag of ice.

"Thank you." He whispered looking down waiting to be scolded like he something wrong. He mentally rolled his eyes, _Idiot! You just sucker punched her nephew. Twice! _He thought to himself. So when Ms. Knight pressed a motherly kiss to his forehead he was more than a little surprised.

"Keep the ice on your hand for at least ten minutes to stop the swelling. Twenty to be sure." She instructed him. He could only nod as she started to walk out of the kitchen.

"You're not mad that I just punched your nephew twice?" he asked her dumbly. She gave him a gentle smile at his confusion.

"I'm disappointed that you ended up using violence," she started but quickly continued on when she saw that he was about to say something, "_but_ you were protecting Nicolle. James," she paused again still smiling gently, "you react intensely when she's hurt or in trouble. So, I can't say that I'm surprised that you hit Chase but to some degree I can't fault you for protecting your best friend." She finished. He nearly sank to the floor in relief.

"Kendall and Nicolle are upstairs in her room." With that said, she made her way to the living room and relaxed on the couch.

_Honestly it's not even eleven yet, _she thought as she let her body sink into the soft cushions of the couch while she heard James make his way up the stairs.

* * *

**NICOLLE'S ROOM  
WITH NICOLLE AND KENDALL**

After Kendall had came in and comforted Nicolle about Chase's seemingly betrayal, they made their way up the stairs to her room.

As soon as Kendall had walked in there was no doubt in his mind that this was his cousin's room. It was a fairly decent size room with neon electric light blue walls with splats of lime green (_Two favorite colors, _he thought remembering from when they were about seven years old and were debating what were the best colors.) The ceiling was the same design as the walls but with darker colors; the base was a deep navy blue while the accent was the color of grass after a light rain. There were an array of pictures and posters on the walls and onto the furniture, all of which were just basic midnight black with accent of a sky blue and a soft sea foam green; the same splattered design.

Her bed had a simple white comforter with pillows of all of the blues and greens used on the walls, ceiling and furniture, with some black ones as well. He spotted four stuffed animals that looked very familiar to him. He grinned as he walked over to them and picked one up.

It was a penguin (_My favorite animal Kenny. Duh, _he heard her words from a trip to the zoo once with the guys) that had their youth league hockey team jersey on it while holding a hockey stick and wearing a helmet.

"Carlos got me that one." his cousin said as she walked over to him. She had been watching him look around her room since they had walked in, wondering what he was thinking but couldn't tell unfortunately.

"These were your going away presents from us." he said remembering that day very well. He didn't like how he and the guys acted like they completely lost. It was weird not seeing her everyday; she had lived next to James since practically forever. James was obviously the worse of them all, having lost his best friend but after a call from her a few weeks after she had left, it seemed to have knocked them out of their funk. He could still hear her yelling at them for being stupid and moping like the world had ended.

"Yeah. Logan got me the soccer playing fox; James gave me the gecko wearing sunglasses; and you got me the bear playing a guitar." she reminded him softly as he placed the animal toy back in its place with the others. He took a seat next to Nicolle, who had sat on her bed after she walked over. She placed her head on his shoulder as they both stared at the four stuffed animals that she received from her four boys.

He felt her tense up as they heard footsteps coming towards her room. They heard who ever it was stop in front of her door and slowly opened it. They continued to stare at the animals tensely, not seeing that it was James poking his head in.

"Hey." he said quietly as the two cousins relaxed at the same time and looked over at him.

"You didn't kill him, did you?" Nicolle asked. She watched as James put on an offended look but noticed that he was hiding his right hand. She narrowed her eyes that made him start to shift uncomfortably.

"James show me your hand." It was a simple statement but both he and Kendall had heard the underlying tone in her voice before in the past. Deciding to play dumb he showed her his left hand.

"James. Your _right_ hand." He almost didn't show her but he knew that look on her face. It was one she impressively mastered when they were they seven years old. He and the guys have been on the receiving end of it too many times to count, for doing something stupid. Usually it also came up when they were hiding an injury from her but somehow she always knew.

Reluctantly, he lifted his right hand while removing the ice. He grimaced at the sight for the first time. No wonder his hand hurt like hell; it was a bright, ugly red and swollen slightly. It was also bleeding a little at his knuckles, _Crap. I must of hit teeth, _he thought both in pain and pride.

"James, you idiot." she sighed in disappointment. He winced not knowing if it was worse disappointing Ms. Knight or Nicolle.

"He deserved it Nicki." Kendall reasoned while James nodded in agreement. Nicolle just shook her head at the two, not in the mood to deal them wanting to hurt her brother right not. She'd worry about it later.

"You could've at least let me deal with him." she said, "You'd be surprised on how much damage I could do to his reputation." James and Kendall grinned knowing they weren't in trouble, for now. Though Kendall did seem a little worried on what she would possibly do to him but instead of focusing on Chase he thought of someone else and his grin turned into a small smirk.

"Don't worry, we'll let you have Logan when we get to the Palm Woods." he told his cousin. He watched as an annoyed and devious look filtered into her eyes and for a moment he felt bad for Logan but a minute later it was gone.

"How about this we join forces because I know you guys are just going to do something to him too." she suggested. They didn't know if they were surprised or not that she knew they would have done something to him.

"Deal." The two boys said together. James took the time to look around the room and was impressed. His eyes looked over the multiple photographs and posters, before they settled on one poster in particular. He didn't know if he should smile or smirk.

"Nice poster." he commented lightly. She and Kendall tuned to see what he was talking about and nearly laughed at their reactions-well more of Nicolle's then Kendall's as he smirked. His best friend's face turned a faint pink, which in itself was weird. She also tired to stutter out a response thought once she saw their smirks and amusement, she narrowed her eyes a little.

"I knew I kept forgetting to do something." she started as she got up from her bed and over to James and the poster with Kendall behind her, "I wanted the person on the other side, not Big Time Rush," she said as she took the poster down and turned it over, "I mean why would I want to have more photos of my friends when I could have Dak Zevon on my wall." she finished. Both boys reacted the same as the quickly turned around wildly as they waited for the mob of screaming fan girls. Once they realized they were safe they sighed in relief. Turning back to Nicolle they were met with a raised eyebrow and an amused expression. They glared at her joke.

"Long story." Kendall said shortly.

"Long and painful story." James said, wincing as he remembered that day.

"I'm so not going to ask. So, why don't we just start taking down the pictures." she suggested breaking them out of the painful day.

After about ten minutes of taking the picture down from the walls (which they hadn't even been a quarter of them-"Geez how many pictures do you have Nike?" James asked) Kendall noticed on in particular. He slowly took it down as he stared at the photograph.

It was taken in Minnesota, most likely in the late spring, early summer. They were about eight years old, save for Nicolle and Carlos, who were seven. James and Nicolle were wearing matching blue and yellow soccer uniforms and Nicolle was on James' back with her arms wrapped around his neck and head leaning against his. James was holding onto the soccer ball from the game in his hands. Kendall was to the right of James in a simple red tee-shirt and black basketball shorts with white tennis shoes. He leaning his shoulder against the two next to him gently as to not knock them over. Logan was on the other side of James in a green tee-shirt and blue and black basketball shorts with black and white tennis shoes. He had an arm thrown around Carlos and Nicolle. Carlos, who had his helmet on even back then, was wearing a gray tee-shirt and white basketball shorts with blue and white tennis shoes. He had an arm thrown around Logan's shoulder as well and was waving wildly at the camera. Everyone had big grins on their faces, happy that James and Nicolle and had the game.

"That's one of my favorite pictures." he heard behind him. Turning around he saw his cousin looking at the photo fondly. James had stopped what he was doing for a moment and walked over. He looked at the picture and laughed lightly.

"It was the one game where you didn't end up hitting Logan with the ball." James said still snickering. Kendall chuckled, remembering how relieve he had been for not being injured.

"But I made up for it later when out mom's had that barbecue for the team." Nicolle pointed out, "He didn't talk to me for like three days after that." she said sadly. Kendall and James clenched their jaws angrily knowing that he hurt her worse then just not talking to for three days.

"It was the first time you two go into a fight, I think." James said, the question was in his voice, making sure that he was right. Nicolle nodded confirming James' comment.

"The first of many to come. I hated fighting with him. It absolutely sucked." she told them, "Though we never stopped talking to each other for more then a day."

"I'm surprised you guys were still friends when you left. I was sure that you two would've ended up hating each other before then." Kendall wondered. Nicolle shook her head with a sad smile.

"After that first fight we had some sort of unspoken agreement that if we fought again we wouldn't leave each other alone for the rest of the day and then the next it would be forgotten like it never happened."

"The week you guys were leaving was your worst one ever, wasn't it?" James asked softly, as he went back to removing the pictures. Kendall and Nicolle followed soon after. She nearly flinched at the memory of that particular fight between her and Logan.

* * *

**MINNESOTA  
NICOLLE'S BACKYARD  
SEVEN YEARS AGO**

_It was a hot day in Mid-July in Minnesota. The heat of the sun made her feel irritable and even more upset about what she was about to tell her four best friends. She was waiting for them to come over, not want to do this. She muttered darkly about her mother moving them to Michigan. Michigan! What was in Michigan that Minnesota didn't have? And really why would she want to live in a state that looked like a gloved hand, cause seriously that's just stupid._

_"Stupid." she mumbled her thoughts as she kicked a pebble into the grass of her backyard._

_"What's stupid?" The voice of her next door neighbor and absolute best friend, James asked. She willed the tears to go away, not wanting to break down just yet. She took a deep breath to calm herself._

_"Nike?" That did it. Knowing she would never hear that nickname James gave to her when she was five again, the tears came out as she buried herself into James' chest. She felt his arms wrap around her awkwardly, not used to dealing with a crying girl. Though he knew he never want to hear Nicolle cry ever again as she sobbed into his shirt._

_About ten minutes later her sobbing had quieted down into soft hiccups. He rubbed his hands up an down hers in a soothing measure. She sniffled loudly as she heard their three friends make their way from the kitchen to the backyard. She quickly wiped her eyes, not wanting them to know that she had been crying. Kendall, her cousin, would especially be worried._

_"Nickie! Hi!" Carlos said happily as he bounced his way over to them. Kendall and Logan also quickly made their way over, though slightly calmer then Carlos, who stopped short, his happy grin turned into a worried frown, when he noticed her red eyes._

_"What's wrong? Why are you crying?" the Latino boy asked causing Kendall and Logan to slowly frown. She didn't say anything. She couldn't say anything. She saw Logan look to James through her lashes as she stared down at the ground._

_"James?" the boy genius' voice asked, the worry in there caused her eyes to form more tears. She pressed the heel of her hand into her eyes, hoping it would make them disappear._

_She felt James shrug as he said, "I don't know what's wrong. She just started crying when I came over."_

_She heard a rustle of someone walking over and then her hand was encased in a slightly larger and warmer one. Looking up she saw that it was Carlos._

_"Don't worry Nicki. I'm sure whatever is wrong we can fix it." he said reassuringly. A couple tears leaked out of the corner of her eyes as the other three boys nodded in agreement. She shook her head sadly when Kendall and Logan walked closer._

_"Nothing can fix this Carlo. This is something that not even one of Kendall's plans can fix." she said. She watched as his eyes widen at her words._

_"I'm sure that's not true." Logan said ignorantly. She let out a too bitter of a laugh for a nine-year-old and glared at the boy._

_"If he or you for that matter can come up with a plan to convince my mom to not move us to Michigan then go ahead. I'm all ears Logan!" she yelled. James and Carlos pulled way from her and she felt colder without them despite the ninety degree heat. All four boys looked at her._

_"What?" Kendall asked speaking for the first time since arriving. Nicolle finally let the tears silently fall as she looked at her friends They were wearing various degrees of shock on their faces._

_"My mom decided to move us to Michigan. She thinks that it might be good for us to finally move on from my dad's death if we weren't here." she said, her voice catching at the mention of her father._

_"When do you leave?" Carlos asked, she could see the tears in his brown eyes and her heart broke at the pain she was causing him._

_"This Saturday." At her words James shook his head from side to side._

_"No. You're lying." He whispered in denial._

_"Jamie, I wish I was but..."she trailed off._

_"No!" he yelled before he ran back to his house._

_"James!" If her heart broke at Carlos' expression then it completely shattered at her best friend's reaction._

_"Give him some time to process what you just told us, Nicki." Kendall whispered in her ear, having walked over to her when James had run away._

_"I'm going to go follow him make sure he's okay." Carlos said softly and before they could say anything he left in the direction James had went. She could only watch sadly at his retreating back. Sniffling she looked up at her cousin._

_"He hates me." she whined, choking on a sob. Kendall started to rub her arms reassuringly just like James had done not even twenty minutes ago. That thought caused her to cry harder._

_"No he doesn't. He's upset that his best friend is leaving." Kendall reasoned to which Logan agreed._

_No one said anything after that for about fifteen minutes until Kendall's mom, her aunt, called Kendall letting them know that they had to leave. The two cousins hugged each other tightly like she was leaving that day and not the end of the week._

_Soon it was just her and Logan. She stared at him apprehensively waiting for him to react. For some reason she just knew that he wanted to say something that would end up with them fighting again. _

_"What? Got nothing to say?" she snapped unintentionally. She closed her eyes in regret, _Crap. I so don't want to fight with him right now, _she thought exasperatedly._

_"What do you want me to say?" he snapped back causing her to open her eyes and glare at him._

_"I don't know how about anything!" she exclaimed. "Just say something!"_

_"Fine! How about I say this?" Logan yelled, "I hate that you're leaving. I hate that you made Carlos and James, who no doubt is, cry because you won't be here. I hate that Kendall won't be himself once you're gone. And right now I hate you!" he finished screaming his last words._

_Nicolle stared at him, wide eyes in surprise, which promptly filled with tears once again. No matter how much they fought and annoyed each other these days they never, not once, said that they hated each other. Once he realized what he actually said his own eyes widen in disbelief._

_He took a step forward hoping to apologize, "Nicki..." he trailed off. He tried not to flinch with hurt when she stepped back from him._

_"Don't Logan. I think you've said what you needed to say." she spat at him, "I think it's time for you to go." Logan looked like he wanted to say something but decided against it. _Smart boy_, she thought angrily._

_On his way to the door she stopped him._

_"I hate you." It was different then the way he had said it. He said it in the middle of an argument, the heat of the moment. She, though, seemed to have meant it. Her voice was too cold for a nine-year-old girl._

_Once he left her home, she had rushed upstairs to her bedroom. She climbed onto her bed and buried her head in her pillows, hiding her tears._

_That was the first time she cried over Logan Mitchell._

* * *

It was honestly one of the worst days of her life right after her father dying and her mother kicking her out. She never liked fight with Logan, it hurt too much to have him mad at her, but for some reason they just could not stop. He was one of her best friends and the fact that he hurt her and she hurt him, it made her feel absolutely awful. After that fight she was worried that he wouldn't come and see her when she left, especially when she told him that she hated him. So when the day came for her to leave, was surprised at what happened.

* * *

**MINNESOTA  
JAMES' HOUSE  
SEVEN YEARS AGO**

_The week of her move went by painfully quick yet at the same time agonizingly slow. She spent as much time as she could with James, Kendall, and Carlos. Logan refused to be anywhere near her and she felt the same, thinking of what she might have done to him if he were there. Though that didn't mean that she didn't regret what happened between them. Unfortunately because of he refused to be here with her, it also meant that he wasn't with the guys, which was something she _never_ wanted to happen._

_It made her feel worse because apparently James and Carlos had heard them fighting. She figured that they would pick sides but they decided to weirdly be mature about the whole thing and quite frankly it scared her a little cause seriously, James and Carlos being mature? Impossible._

_"Look at it from his side Nike?" James said as they got ready for a movie marathon. Carlos was in the family room, getting the area ready from them and Kendall had yet to arrive at James' house with the soda. _Logan would've brought candy, _her mind whispered, sounding strangely like her father._

_"I know Jamie. Trust me. I know I made a mistake and I feel awful about it. I just," she paused remembering his words from only three days before, "didn't think he would ever say that he hated me." She could feel the tears form again._

_"He doesn't hate you. Trust me when I say it's impossible for him to hate you." Carlos told her from behind them, causing her to jump, not having heard him move._

_"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked curiously._

_"Nothing you need to worry about." James said, cutting in while giving a glare to Carlos, who merely shrugged._

_"Its hard on him like it is for all of us. He would be here giving you chocolate had it not been for that fight." James reasoned, "He thinks that you're the one who hates him." Carlos popped up again, his face as serious as it could being eight-years-old._

_"Give him some time to cool off Nicki." the Latino boy told her. She knew they were right but still she wanted Logan there with her and the guys, being with each other as much as possible._

_"How much time though? I leave the day after tomorrow." she reminded them, her voice sounded dejected at the thought of leaving with Logan thinking she hated him._

_"He'll be there. I know it." Carlos said, sounding absolutely sure of it._

_"How though?" she couldn't help but be skeptical._

_"Because he's Logan and you're Nicolle." he said, "And you're supposed to be with each other."_

_There was a slight pause after his words. She could feel the blush form on her cheeks. She saw James give Carlos a weird look that she couldn't identify but let it go as the doorbell to James' house rung, signaling that Kendall had arrived._

* * *

**MINNESOTA  
NICOLLE'S FORMER FRONT YARD  
SEVEN YEARS AGO**

_Nicolle sadly watched as her mother and aunt place the last few boxes of their things in the trunk of the car. She could feel three out of four of her boys walk up behind her just as sadly._

_She turned around to face them. Kendall, ever the leader, was trying to be strong for all of them but she could spot a few cracks in that armor of his. Carlos already had tears running down his face which caused the tear she was trying to hold back fall down silently. James, her Jamie, was looking down at the ground refusing to look at her, which hurt almost as much as the fact that someone was missing from their group._

_Kendall cleared his throat as he stepped forward, the other two behind him. Each one had their hands behind their backs._

_"We wanted to give you something to remember us." her cousin said softly. She chuckled thickly through her tears._

_"I could never forget you guys. I hope you know that." she told them seriously, "It's like impossible for that to happen." She saw the three of them smile sadly._

_"Still though we each got you something just in case you need anyone of us." he said. She nodded understanding the meaning, _So, we'll always be there for you. No matter what.

_Kendall removed his hands from behind his back revealing a black grizzly bear stuffed animal with a blue guitar in its paws. She took it softly with a small chuckle. Carlos quickly pushed his arms forward with a penguin wearing the jersey of the boys youth hockey league team. She shook her head as a small smile grew on her face as she added the penguin with the bear. She turned her head to James and she could feel herself becoming depressed again at the sight of her best friend. He held his present out with shaky hands and she smiled because this would absolutely remind her of him. She grabbed the medium size green gecko that was wearing a pair of bright neon orange sunglasses._

_"Thank you." she whispered, afraid that her voice would stop working if she spoke any louder._

_"Nicolle." the voice of her mother cut through them, "It's time to go." She could feel her heart stop at the words and the fact that-_

_"Nicki?"_

Logan! He's here.

_She pushed past Kendall and Carlos, shoving the three animals into her cousins arms then launched herself into Logan's. She was surprised that they didn't end up falling backwards at the force as she wrapped her arms around his neck and felt his move around her waist._

_"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry." she mumbled repeatedly into his neck. She felt him tighten his grip reassuringly._

_"No. I'm sorry. I was a complete jerk to you." he whispered._

_"You were upset. I get it but that didn't give me the right to say that I hated you because I don't. I swear I don't hate you Logie." she told him as more tears started to fall. She was vaguely aware of their friends leaving them to themselves._

_"Yes, I was upset but so were you. You just told us that you were moving away and I yell at you. What kind of friend does that?" he asked rhetorically but she answered anyways as she pulled back a little to look at him._

_"One who is hurt because friend is moving and their friends are suffering too." she told him in such a voice that he couldn't help but be comforted by her words._

_"I don't hate you." he said softly causing her to grin and pull him in for another hug._

_"Nicolle come on! We need to leave." her mother yelled from the car after giving tearful goodbyes to her sister and the mothers of her daughters friends._

_"I got you something." Logan said, both of them ignoring Nicolle's mom for a moment. He pulled back from her just enough to show her another stuffed animal. This one was a fax in a soccer uniform with a soccer ball at its foot, making it look like it was about to kick it. She laughed because it was slightly ironic coming from Logan._

_"You're probably happy that you won't get hit with soccer balls anymore, huh?" she wondered lightly as she grabbed the fourth and final stuffed animal. _Collection completed, _she thought bittersweet._

_"It would mean that you're really gone, so no. I'm not happy about that." he told her seriously. She didn't really know what she was thinking but when she heard that, she couldn't stop the smile from forming onto her face. Next thing she knew she stood on the tips of her toes a little and pressed her lips to his with her eyes closed._

_It was a small and quick kiss but with her only being nine-years-old, it felt like nothing could be better than that moment. Unfortunately, she pulled back blushing and opened her eyes cautiously to see that he was opening his as well as his cheeks were also stained pink._

_"I gotta go." she told him quietly before running to her mother's car, the animal clutched to her chest. She stopped by Kendall, not looking at him and grabbed the other three toys. She quickly gave him a hug a muttered a _'Bye and I'll miss you'_ to her cousin and aunt. Then she made her way to the car and found that Carlos and James were by the door. She gave Carlos a quick hug and told that she would miss him before turning to James. Like with Logan, she also launched herself into his arms._

_"I'll miss you Jamie." she whispered. She felt him squeeze her tight to him almost like he never wanted to her go._

_"I'll miss you too Nike."_

_With one final squeeze she climbed into the car, pushing the stuffed animals away, having placed them in there before she gave Carlos a hug. Looking back, saw the four boys wave at her sadly that she returned before closing the door._

_Once she had her seat belt on, her mother pulled away from their former home. She look back at them already knowing the sight she would see-them standing all together; Logan and Carlos on the outside with Kendall and James in between them._

_She could feel the tears, that had surprisingly dried up, fall again. Feeling her chest hurt she blindly grabbed for one of the stuffed animals and buried her head into as she held it to her tightly._

_Nicolle pulled away slightly to see which one she grabbed and she didn't know whether to laugh hysterically or cry harder._

_She did a small combination of both-letting out a distraught laugh and the tears fell faster as she stared at the soccer playing fox._

* * *

"Nicolle are you okay?" Kendall's voice broke her out of the memory. Blinking, almost confusedly, she looked over to him to see that he was staring at her worriedly.

"Hmm? Oh, yeah. I was just thinking." she told him reassuringly with a small smile that she really didn't feel was genuine. He nodded but looked like he didn't believe her.

After that the three teens worked in silence, save for when it was decided onto how to pack the picture. She told them to wrap them in newspaper and gently place them in the boxes.

By the time of noon rolled around they had a fair amount of pictures in the boxes. Kendall was taking down the few pictures that were still on the wall as James wrapped and packed them. She, however, started to pack her clothes in a few suitcases and the rest would go into boxes to be shipped to LA.

Though once they heard the door open and then close shut they froze, not having heard a car pull up driveway. They could hear the voice of the woman clearly.

"Ashley?"

Nicolle's mother had returned home.

The three teens shared the same thought, _Let the battle begin._

* * *

_Chapter two is finished! 44 and half written pages front and back. Hope you all liked it._

_Oh! I also wanted to let everyone know that I now have a twitter account if you want to follow the progress of my stories and what new ones I might be working on too. Just click on the homepage button on my profile. _

_Reviews are loved and for a quicker update. :-P _

_-ARF _


	3. III

_So, here you go chapter 3 is FINALLY UP! And I apologize profusely for the wait. I have no excuses though I have been busy with work and we're remodeling our bathroom and my room was being reorganized. And it's just been hetic like hell. And I'm sorry! Please don't hate me. I feel terrible and I guess inspiration wasn't hitting me for the second half of the chapter. _

_I have realized that these chapters have been pretty long and it really is unintentional but I guess that just how it's going to be. So expect long chapters._

_OH! Before I forget one of BTR's songs is on here. So I'll give you a key as to who is singing. _

_KEY:  
**JAMES AND ****KENDALL**_  
_KENDALL_  
**JAMES**  
CARLOS  
_**ALL THREE**_

_Sorry no Logan in the song._

_Anyways, here go. Enjoy!_

___**Disclaimer: I do not own Big Time Rush. I only have their albums so that is about the closet thing of owning them I have.**_

* * *

**Chapter 3  
Ashley v. Karen, a Song to Calm, Nicolle Tells the Team and West Coast Meet Mid-West (Michigan Volume)**

Ashley had just sat down with her third cup of coffee when her sister walked in. After seven years, she looked good and happy, which seem to only make her angrier then she was before. She didn't know what she was looking for in Karen Dalton but she had hoped for some speck of guilt or regret for doing this to her _daughter_ but there was none.

"Ashley?" The surprised but obviously happy voice of her sister made her tense a little in her spot on the couch.

"Karen." her voice was slightly colder but she still couldn't help but be a tiny bit excited to her.

"What are you doing here?" her sister asked. There was thump from upstairs causing Karen to frown. Ashley watched as her sister transform from the happy, glowing woman she used to know to someone with the look of pure, undiluted hatred on her face. _What happened to you Karen? _She thought sadly of her younger sister.

"She called you, didn't she?" Karen asked sharply. Ashley nodded, not knowing how to go about this.

"I'm sorry she wasted your time; you didn't have to come." she insisted.

"No, actually I'm glad she called." Ashley said casually as she placed her cup of coffee on the table in front of her and stood up, "Gave us a chance to catch up a little. She told me about her soccer, I told her how the boys were doing then she said something interesting." she paused for a moment looking her sister in the eye, "She said that you kicked her out of her home. Mind explaining that?"

"I won't tolerate having a liar in my house." Karen stated, crossing her arms over her chest. Neither one of them noticed the three teens moving to sit on the stairs, listening to what they're saying.

"_She's your daughter!_"

"Not anymore, she's not." Ashley could only shake her head at her sister wondering who this person standing before her was.

"Fine but she's coming to live Katie, the boys, and myself in LA." she told her. _Maybe the distance will make her realize how stupid she's being_, she thought hopefully.

"Take her. We can talk to the school on Monday for transferring her." Karen said indifferently.

"What about guardianship?" Ashley asked, not really wanting to be charged with kidnapping.

"I'll call my lawyer while I fix lunch." she said before walking into the kitchen. Ashley could only stare after her wondering once again what could've caused her sister to change.

"She's been like this since she met her boyfriend." a small voice from her left said softly. She jumped slightly, not expecting hear anyone for some time still. Turning, she saw Nicolle was sitting between Kendall and James (_Always protecting, _she thought with a slight though sad smile. Kendall had an arm wrapped around her shoulders as she leaned into his body and James held her left hand in between the two of his, running his thumb over her knuckles occasionally.

"When did she meet him?" She asked her niece quietly, not wanting to gather Karen's attention, for Nicolle's sake.

"About two years ago but they didn't get together until about eight months ago." Nicolle answered. She paused not wanting to dwell on how her mother dating this guy had affected her so changed the subject, "We got a good amount packed into boxed. It's mainly pictures and I got about three suitcases full of clothes."

Her aunt nodded, seeing the reluctance in talking about the subject, and then there was silence. It was a slightly tense one that normally would have had Nicolle fell uncomfortable and irritated but fortunately she had the calming and protective presence of her cousin, aunt and best friend with her. All of a sudden she felt her phone vibrate; looking at it she saw that it was a text message from Carson. She opened it, wondering what her friend wanted.

_Hey. Just wanted 2 rmnd u abt the team mting 2day.  
-Carson_

Nicolle blinked, having absolutely forgotten about having to talk to the team. She felt a nudge come from her left causing her to look over a James.

"You okay?" he asked worried, noticing her lack of focus.

"Uh yeah." she paused, some reason not feeling like herself, "Yeah. I'm fine. I think." she said, sounding like she was confused. "I need to take this. I'm just going to go outside." she finished as she stood up and walked out the door. She stood on the porch staring out in front of her for a few excruciatingly long minutes before raising her phone to reply to Carson's message.

_wht time again?  
-N.D._

Nicolle hit send and waited patiently for her friend to reply. That feeling from before came back; the one that made her feel like she wasn't herself; she felt detached from herself and it scared her like no other. She remembered having felt like this only twice before; the first when her father had died when she was six while the second was when she was setting up her new room in the this very house when they had moved in. Neither times did the feeling go away as quickly as she would've liked but they then again it only stayed around for about two or three weeks and usually once she talked to the guys it would just go away. Not just Kendall and James but Carlos and Logan as well.

The four of them together had some sort of power to pull her out of these lapses and she loved them even more for that. They each had their own way of helping her; Kendall was family and all he had to do was just stand by her and talk to her, reassuring her; James was the same way kind of because he had lived next door to her so he would be able to check in on her everyday (or call her when she was in Michigan) and he also gave her the space she needed; Carlos would just be his normal sweet and naively innocent self and talk about hockey or some other random thing just to make her laugh; and finally Logan, he would be all logical and point out that things couldn't be helped, that they just happen, and yet he would still be sweetly reassuring the whole time. The combination of the four boys while a little unorthodox (they are Kendall, James, Carlos and Logan after all) it helped her feel like she was herself like she was whole again because she really wasn't herself without them as cheesy and needy as it sounds. She did wonder on how this one would go with Logan being an ass though.

The sound of her phone beeping brought her out of her little memory lane. Quickly opening it she saw that it was Carson's reply. She tried to ignore the small feel of disappointment that appeared for some reason.

_3 field  
-Carson_

Checking the time she realized that she only had about two and half hours till she wasn't captain anymore.

_Kay. Thanx.  
__-N.D._

She made her way, though reluctantly, back into the house. Just as she shut the door quietly behind her, her mother walked in with a tray of sandwiches. Nicolle stood tensely as she silently watched her mother happily serve the food to Kendall and James, though she was amused when the two reacted with a polite coldness that caused her mother to falter a bit. She snorted softly hoping no one heard.

Unfortunately, James did hear causing him to look up from his spot on the couch. He scowled slightly at her amusement of them trying _so hard_ to be nice to her mother, causing her to grin. His eyes softened noticeably seeing her smile for the first time in seventeen hours.

Her mother, having noticed that James attention was not on her sandwiches anymore but on something by the door. Her warm hazel gaze followed the direction of his eyes. However, once Nicolle was spotted the warmth was replaced with a frostiness that caused a shiver to run down her spine.

She didn't dare say anything though what _could_ she say to the woman who threw her out _and_ disowned her. (_Hi. Sorry to barge in. Just came by to pack up my things and leave forever. Bye and have a good life.)_

"So, I called my lawyer and he said that he would bring the papers for guardianship by tomorrow around noon." Karen told Ashley, moving her gaze from her daughter with no feeling, because of this she didn't see the shattered look on her face. Kendall and James, however, did and they reacted almost instantly.

"I'm sorry but I can't do this anymore!" Kendall exclaimed standing up. Both his mother and aunt looked at him, surprised (his mom not so much truthfully) at his out burst. James stood up next to him.

"Neither can I." the brunette boy agreed. They walked over to Nicolle and stood next to her, boxing her in, with their support.

"What on-what can't you do?" her mother asked the two boys confused, completely ignoring her. They both tensed, having noticed the lack of acknowledgement. _Fine. Two can play that game, _she thought bitterly.

"We can't just stand here, be polite and watch you completely dismiss Nicolle." Kendall snapped at his aunt. It disgusted him that she hadn't even _looked_ like she regretted what she did to Nicolle.

Before Karen or (_heaven help her_) James could say anything, Nicolle interrupted whatever _fight_ that was sure to come.

"Okay! As nice as this has been," she started off sarcastically, "I think that we should leave for the day." she finished with a random hand gesture over her shoulder.

She, Kendall, and James didn't wait for an answer as they walked out of the front door. Some of the tension, that had entered her body the moment she heard her mother return home, slipped away the further away she got from the house.

There was movement by the garage that caused her to pause. Looking over, she saw Chase working on the ATV that their mom had gotten him for his thirteenth birthday. As if he could feel her eyes on him, he looked up. There was a tense silence that filled the air between them. Nicolle, finally tore her gaze away from her younger brother and walked to the car.

The trio were sitting in the backseat for not even two minutes before she burst into tears. The boys obviously surprised at the action and just stared at her with wide and lost eyes. However, when they heard her sob, they instantly put their arms around her.

She was leaning forward with her head in her hands when she heard soft singing.

_**'Cause the world stops  
When I put my arms around you, around you, oh, woah  
And nothing even matters  
And nothing even matters**_

_It's like one for the haters and two for all of those  
Who try to shut us down, they don't really know  
There ain't nothing they can do that can tear us apart, no_

**I don't care about the money, don't care about the clothes  
****When we're together, baby, anything goes'  
Cause we don't even need to prove what we feel in our hearts, no**

Their voices combined, singing one of their songs, softly to her seemed to calm her racing heart. Her sobs slowly evaporated into soft and sharp hiccups. Unfortunately, the detached feeling from before came back. She tried like hell to focus on Kendall and James singing as their voices started to fade.

_This wall we built together  
There ain't no way of knocking it over  
We'll be here forever  
Getting closer and closer, baby_

_**'Cause the world stops  
When I put my arms around you, around you, oh, woah  
And nothing even matters  
And nothing even matters**_

_**They can all talk  
Say what they want about us, about us, oh, woah  
And nothing even matters, woah  
And nothing even matters**_

_Oh thank god, _she thought, desperately thankful that their voices were growing louder. That they were pulling her out of this lapse. She felt herself grow safe as she listened to her three boys sing. _Wait. Three?_ she thought confused. She raised her head from her hands and saw that Kendall had pulled his cell phone out at some point, as it was on speaker. Looking at the screen, she confirmed her suspicions. _Carlos, _she smiled a little.

_It's like the sound goes off and the people all freeze_  
_They disappear and it's just you and me_  
_Anything you want to do, anything that you please, oh, woah, no_

**Forget about our problems, forget about our past**  
**I've seen the future and I know we're gonna last**  
**Every second I'm with you just goes so fast, woah, oh, woah**

_This wall we built together  
There ain't no way of knocking it over  
We'll be here forever  
That I told you, that I told you, baby_

_**'Cause the world stops  
When I put my arms around you, around you, oh, woah  
And nothing even matters, eh  
And nothing even matters**_

She was calming at their soft voices. Her hiccups were now deep breaths and she leaned back, grabbing a hand of Kendall and James, and closed her eyes. She let their voices wash over her, hoping to rid of herself of the last remnants of her detachment. However, she knew that for her to be fully back to normal she would need Logan.

**_They can all talk  
Say what they want about us, about us, oh, woah  
And nothing even matters, woah  
And nothing even matters_**

**_Nothing even matters, woah_**  
**_And nothing even matters, woah_**  
**_We don't even need to fight_**  
**_Everything will be alright, oh, yeah_**  
**_Nothing even matters but you and I_**

**_'Cause the world stops_**  
**_When I put my arms around you, around you, oh, woah_**  
**_And nothing even matters, nothing even matters_**  
**_And nothing even matters_**

_**They can all talk**_  
_**Say what they want about us, about us, oh, woah**_  
_**And nothing even matters, woah**_  
_**And nothing even matters**_

_**'Cause the world stops**_  
_**When I put my arms around you, around you, oh, woah**_  
_**And nothing even matters, nothing even matters**_  
_**And nothing even matters, baby**_

Nicolle considered herself a pretty independent person for her age, having to take care of her brother whenever their mom had to work late or pulled a double shift at the hospital and like recent when she went out with her boyfriend. She would rarely ask for help from _anyone_ since coming to Michigan, even from the one closet to her, which would be Carson and the team. But when it came to her boys it was a different story. Maybe it was because she knew them the longest growing up or maybe it was because Kendall _was family_ and James, Carlos and Logan _were like family_. All she knew was that when she needed help or needed to vent (phone or e-mail) about whatever problem, her four boys from Minnesota were ready and willing to be there for her.

_**They can all talk  
Say what they want about us, about us, oh, woah  
And nothing even matters, woah  
And nothing even matters**_

Opening her eyes, she gave them a small and genuine smile to relieve their concern looks. They relaxed when the saw her smile, happy to have pulled her mostly back, though unknowingly doing so.

"Are you okay now, Nicki?" Carlos' voice echoed softly into the car. The concern in his tone caused her heart to break a little for causing him to worry. She couldn't wait to see him so she could hug him and thank for him being Carlos.

"Yeah. I'm okay Carlo. Thank you for singing to me." she told him but she spoke to Kendall and James as well when she glanced at them.

"Anytime. I gotta go, I'm hanging out with Stephanie and the others." Carlos said. Before she could say comment, he said a rather excited bye and hung up. She turned back to Kendall and James.

"So, who's Stephanie?" she asked lightly as she saw her aunt leave the house and headed straight for the car.

* * *

**LA, CALIFORNIA  
****PALMWOODS HOTEL  
****LOBBY  
****WITH CARLOS**

When Kendall called he was just leaving the elevator to go to the pool to hang out with Stephanie, Camille, Jo and Katie. Logan had told him that he would've joined but he felt like he had no right to, since he and Katie were planning on telling them about Nicolle.

Despite what people might think, Carlos was not stupid; he was just energetic, outgoing and completely innocent. Therefore, he knew that Logan was being the idiotic one in their group because while he lied about talking to Nicolle, it's not the worst he's done to anyone else. _But it's Nicki, _his mind whispered. In the beginning of their friendship the first thing that the boys had ever agreed upon was that Nicolle was to never be hurt and if she was that whoever was responsible was to pay. So the question was how would they go about it this time? _Why did Logan have to do this?_

When they were in Minnesota, Nicolle included, it was known everywhere that if you saw the four them then Nicolle would be right there and next to James no matter what. He also knew that the bond that James and Nicolle had was something that a lot people had trouble describing because no one _really knew_ how, they were not James and Nicolle but JamesandNicolle. Almost like they were one person sometimes.

It was hard to explain it to people who asked when James would in one of his 'I'm-absolutely-awesome-therefore-I'm-better-then-you' moods and they would get annoyed with him and, while they guys could snap him out of it, it would just take a little time. Nicolle, however, would just stand there with her arms crossed over her chest with an irritated look on her face but some humor in her eyes and call him an idiot and that he needed to came back down to planet Earth.

They all had a connection to Nicolle, if not then they wouldn't be friends with Kendall and James because if someone had a problem with Nicolle, then the two boys would take it personally and never acknowledge the person again (Nicolle always called them stupid for doing that). He and Nicolle were friends simply because his dad and her mom tended to work together, when a victim (or suspect) needed medical attention and she would be there waiting with a doctor. Sometimes, he would be brought to the hospital to keep her company.

Though, that was not the case for how they had met.

* * *

**ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA  
****ST. PAUL GENERAL HOSPITAL  
****WAITING ROOM  
****TWELVE YEARS AGO**

_Carlos was bored. He was sitting in a boring looking room with uncomfortable chairs, next to his older brother. He looked around, hoping to find some interesting, as he swung his feet and spotted a little girl with brown hair that looked like mud and wide eyes with weird brown and green color. He thinks his mom called it ha-hazel or something along those lines._

_She was sitting in the corner by herself, staring out the window, with her knees pulled up to her chest and arms wrapped around them. Squinting his eyes, he saw that she was about his age (which was four). He grinned at the thought of another kid (even if it was a girl) to play with so he wasn't _so bored._ However, upon closer inspection he saw that she was crying as he noticed the tears silently falling._

_He frowned, he was only four, so he was no good with crying girls, but he felt an urge to comfort her._

_So he did._

_After telling his brother that he was going to look out the window and practically falling out of the chair, he hurried over to the window. He skidded to a stop before the girl, who was now looking at him with her weird, tearful colored eyes._

"_Hi!" He waved happily with a grin. She giggled a little but didn't smile._

"_Hi." He sat down next to her and stared out the window for a moment before growing bored again. He looked at the girl again._

"_My name is Carlos. What's yours?" he asked, hoping she would play with him. She looked at him and he really thought her eyes were a little weird looking._

"_Nicolle." she said. Nicolle noticed that he staring at her a little to hard. "What are you looking at?" she asked annoyed with this boy._

"_Your eyes are weird." he told her bluntly. She opened her mouth to say something but he interrupted her, "I think that they're cool!" he exclaimed with another grin. She giggled again._

"_You're funny." she said still giggling and he joined her soon after that. They calmed down after a couple minutes._

"_Why are you alone?" she asked him after the silence started to bug her._

"_My older brother is over there." he said flailing his left arm in the direction of his brother. "My mommy is here because my little brother is coming but he's taking _forever_." he whined. She finally grinned at him at the mention of his little brother._

"_I have a little brother!" she said excitedly. Carlos' eyes widened at the information._

"_Really? What's he like?" he asked eagerly._

"_His name is Chase and he's only one. So he's kind of small and kind of loud. He'll wake us up really late at night. I don't really play with him that much because he eats and sleeps _all the time_." she stressed out the last three words. His eyes widened with a thought._

"_If you don't play with him, who do you play with?" he asked, hoping she had someone to play with because playing by themselves is not fun._

"_My cousin Kenny and my best friend Jamie." she answered causing him to sigh in relief, "They should be here to stay with me."_

"_Why are you here?" he asked suddenly. Her whole attitude changed at his question. She looked down at her hand and played with her fingers._

"_My daddy is sick and my mommy is making him feel better. She works here." she said sadly. Carlos immediately put his arms around her, hoping to make her feel better. She leaned her head on his small should and wrapped her arms around him._

"_Nike!" The voice of a boy broke them out of their hug. Carlos saw her grin behind him and leapt off the seat, she started to run toward the voice but stopped and ran back to him. She grabbed his hand and began pulling him toward two boys._

"_Come on. I want you to meet Kenny and Jamie." she said as they walked to them. He looked at the two taller boys and shrank back a little at the slight mean look they were giving him._

"_This is Carlos and he's my new friend. So be nice." she snapped at the two boys and Carlos watched in awe as they quickly looked guilty._

"_I'm Kendall and Nicolle is my cousin." The blonde haired boy said. He had green eyes and a lanky body. He was in jeans and a red shirt with sneakers on his feet. The other boy, who was in jeans as well and a green long sleeve shirt, pushed him out of the way to stand in front of the two._

_He didn't say anything for a moment, just stared at him, as if he was trying to figure him out. Carlos started to fidget at the oddly placed intense look in the four year old's hazel eyes. Nicolle, seeing him fidgeting, frowned and looked over at James. She smacked him on the arm, the sound of skin hitting skin echoed silently in the room._

"_Ow!" he yelled, grabbing his arm, "Why?" he asked the brunette girl, confused._

"_You were making him nervous." she said as if that was enough reason to hit him. The boy just sighed at the girl with a roll of his eyes before turning back to Carlos._

"_Sorry." he apologized quietly as he stared at his own sneakers, which Carlos just waved it off like it was nothing. "I'm James, Nike's best friend." he told the Latino boy but he grew thoughtful for another moment, "And only I can call her that."_

_Carlos shrugged at him, accepting the answer for what it was. He really didn't care._

_After all he just made three new friends._

* * *

So, when he saw that Kendall was calling him, he knew that it was Nicolle related. He wasn't able to get a word in, after accepting the call, because all he heard was Nicolle crying and Kendall and James singing _Nothing Even Matters_. Wait! Nicolle…_crying?_ That was just not allowed because whenever she starts to cry, he was transported back to the hospital and seeing her all alone in the corner.

He quickly looked for a fairly empty area in the lobby, all while listening to the lyrics waiting or the right time to join in. He headed over to the bench near the front entrance and started to sing with Kendall and James.

What Carlos failed to notice was that he had an audience. It wasn't unusual for Big Time Rush to claim some area of the hotel and work on whatever song Gustavo wrote for them. They would expect people to listen to them because they were _aware _of the people around them.

This was obviously not one of those times.

When Carlos failed to be at the pool on time, Stephanie, Camille, Jo and Katie went to go look for him. However, they never made it past the lobby as there was crowd surrounding someone singing. Curious, they started to push their way to the front.

'_Cause the world stops  
__When I put my arms around you, around you, oh, woah  
__And nothing even matters  
__And nothing even matters_

_They can all talk  
Say what they want about us, about us, oh, woah  
And nothing even matters, woah__  
And nothing even matters_

_Nothing even matter, woah  
__And nothing even matters, woah  
__We didn't even need to fight  
__Everything will be alright, oh, woah  
__Nothing even matters but you and I_

It was Carlos on his cell phone, singing one of their songs but it was _how_ he was singing it that had caught the attention of the lobby. It wasn't the normal pop sound they usually do, it was more of a lullaby or a ballad, something to calm someone down. Katie saw how he was staring at the ground in concentration and that his free hand was clenched tightly in a fist. She knew that he was talking (or you know _singing_) to Nicolle and most likely James and Kendall were singing with him.

'_Cause the world stops  
__When I put my arms around you, around you, oh, woah  
__And nothing even matters, nothing even matters  
__And nothing even matters_

_They can all talk  
__Say what they want about us, about us, oh, woah  
__And nothing even matters, woah  
__And nothing even matters_

'_Cause the world stops  
__When I put my arm around you, around you, oh, woah  
__And nothing even matters, nothing even matters  
__And nothing even matters, baby_

There was an emotion in his singing that people didn't really associate Carlos with and that was sadness. _No!_ Stephanie thought as she stared at the boy that had a soft place in her heart_, Longing seems more appropriate_. It was completely out of the norm for Carlos to be so serious and in control of his emotions but there was a restraint in his singing that made his voice seem…_more_. It took her breath away, the beauty of it and she could only imagine how she would feel if Kendall, James and Logan joined in. She figured it would extremely popular.

_They can all talk  
__Say what they want about us, about us, oh, woah  
__And nothing even matters  
__And nothing even matters_

He finished the last note with the guys and looked up, surprised by the people looking at him with awed expressions. His brown eyes found Stephanie's face up front and surrounded by their friends. Her smile, when she noticed him looking, was radiant and it made his heart pound. He pulled his focus back to his phone and his reason for the impromptu performance.

"Are you okay now, Nicki?" he asked softly. He couldn't wait to see her, he missed her like crazy and he was excited that she was going to be living with them.

"Yeah. I'm okay Carlo. Thank you for singing to me." he grinned at his old nickname that she gave him because the others had one, so why couldn't he? At least that was Nicolle's logic. He glanced back at Stephanie to see her waiting patiently for him with their friends. He felt the urge to rush by her side, despite his mind telling him to comfort Nicolle.

Unfortunately, his hormones won that argument.

"Anytime. I gotta go. I'm hanging out with Stephanie and the others." he told them as he watched his friends talk to themselves, the crowd having disappear when he was finished with the song.

"Bye!" he said, a little to eager. He ended the call before his three friends could say anything and headed over the group.

Katie, in a unKatie like behavior, threw her arms around his waist when he was close enough. Shocked but not that surprised, he wrapped his arms around her shoulders.

"Is she okay?" the young girl asked. It was completely weird to hear Katie sound more her age but Carlos could hear the concern for her cousin who was really more of an older sister.

"She will be when she gets here." he told her softly, so that only they could hear. He felt her smile against him before she unwound her arms. He looked up to the others staring at them.

"Everything okay?" Stephanie's soft, soothing voice asked. The tone of it seemed to have washed away his frayed nerves from the phone call. He just smiled gently.

"They will be." He said as they made their way back to the pool, the other following behind them.

* * *

**CHANCELLORVILLE ACADEMY  
****SOCCER FIELD  
****WITH NICOLLE, CARSON, KENDALL AND JAMES**

Kendall, James and Carson watched as Nicolle stood in the center of the field gazing at the land that had been a part of her since she was a freshman. They all knew this was going to be hard for her, considering she had only been captain for the first half of the official season; though summer practices and scrimmages could be counted as the training season.

Nicolle could feel the eyes of her two best friends and cousin. She knew that they were worried about her and in all honesty she was glad that they were here. She hated that she was leaving her friends and the team that had become her family. She looked around the field as many memories from various games and celebrations flashed before her; both good and bad but there appeared so fast that she couldn't identify which was which.

The small part of the detachment that didn't go away, grew slightly as she heard someone walk up behind her. She vaguely wondered which one decided to come over.

"Nicolle?" the soft voice of Carson rang in her ears as one of her small hands touched her arm lightly. She turned and smiled sadly at her friend.

"Hmm." It was all she could do not to break down. Her friend seemed to pick up on that as she watched her to make sure she wouldn't fall apart at any moment. Nicolle felt something stab at her, suddenly realizing she wouldn't see her blond haired friend after a few days. She blinked away the tears that had started to form. She _did not _need this right now.

"The team is here." Carson told her friend gently. She watched in awe, that was tainted with sadness, at the transformation of an emotional teenage girl to the captain of the State Champion girls' soccer team. Gone were the tears, save for the ones that still clung to her cheeks, that Carson pretended not to notice and the confidence and leadership appeared before her. _This._ This is why she was made captain; for her ability pull and push threw anything that was thrown at her and for her way to connect with everyone on the team.

Nicolle looked over to see her team-_her family_, settle down on the ground in front of her. There was a chorus of 'hellos' and 'hey captain' from the girls. She forced herself to take a deep breath. She waited as they calmed down and turned their attention to her.

She stood tense and was silent for a few minutes, trying to figure out what exactly to say.

"What's going on Nicolle? Why are we here and who are the two guys?" a girl, Justine (_Justin for short. Goal keeper. Starter. Senior._), asked with a wave of her hand toward Kendall and James. Nicolle felt a random feeling of relief at them being to far away to be identified but still close enough to comfort her.

She opened her mouth to say something but still couldn't find the right words. she closed her mouth into a tight and annoyed line and cleared throat. The team stared in both confusion and surprise; they tried to think of what could have happened that had caused their captain, someone who always knew what to say, to be speechless.

"There's no easy way to say this but," Nicolle started off softly once she found the right words and her voice, "I'm moving to L.A. to live with my cousin and best friend, who happened to be the boys standing over there." There was a stunned silence after her words were spoken. It was only a matter of time whe-

"What?" _(Marci. Striker. Second String. Freshman.)_

"No! You can't leave." _(Hannah. Right Defender. Starter. Junior.)_

"What about the team?" _(Jessica. Left Midfielder. Starter. Sophomore.)_

"Why?" _(Megan. Left Defender. Second String. Freshman.)_

"What we aren't good enough for you anymore?" _(Erica. Sweeper. Starter. Junior.)_

She could handle a lot of things - moving away from her friends at a young age, making new friends, dealing with her father's death, her mom's creepy boyfriend, being kicked out of her house for not liking said boyfriend but this…this was for some reason feeling like a betrayal. On both sides but still that last remark caused her to snap. She vaguely noticed that James and Kendall walking towards them to help.

"_That is enough!"_ she spoke loudly. Clearly. The authority in her tone had everyone fall silent and even James and Kendall stopped, most likely being reminded of their hockey days. Or Gustavo yelling at them.

"Now if you lot had let me explain before _jumping to conclusions_." she stressed the words toward Erica with a hard look, "I would've told you what was going on." her voice was sharp and cold and the team knew that they better shut up and listen until was done.

"Thank you." her tone softened, "I'm moving for personal reasons that you do not need to know. I would love to stay here and win another championship title with all of you but I can't. Nor have I found another team to play for."

The team was silent throughout the rest of her and they felt guilty for assuming the worst. Whatever her reasons (and a few had suspicions that it had more to do with the two cute guys behind them then anything else), it was taking a toll on her. However, there was one thing that was on the mind of every girl attending.

_Who would be the new captain?_

"Okay. So, who's gonna, you know, replace you?" a young girl of fifteen asked, _(Kasey. Goal Keeper. Second String. Freshman.)_, cringing at the glares she got from most of the team, which were all of the ones who had played with Nicolle in the past.

"I thought about it and discussed it with Coach Anderson this morning. We both agreed that the position should go to," She paused mainly to take breath but also for dramatic effect. She saw James and Kendall roll their eyes at her knowing what she was doing.

"Carson Nickelson." Nicolle looked over at her best friend and saw that she was starting back at her, obviously not expecting her name to be the once to be called.

"I-_huh?_" the shocked girl asked, not quite sure she heard right. Unfortunately, some of the newer and ambitious players protested, stating that it was unfair.

"How is it unfair?" Nicolle asked civilly at the freshman _(Bethany. Left Defender. Second String. Freshman.)_. It was clear that the other players were just fine with the choice, seeing as Carson knew the game just as well as Nicolle and was just as good. Besides, she was basically Nicolle's unofficial co-captain throughout the season anyway. So why not make it official when it was needed?

"She's your best friend. That's probably the only reason why you picked her." Bethany stated, clearly not understanding the reason for the sudden tension surrounding the team. The younger girl grew even more annoyed when Nicolle just smiled at her.

"You're right." Nicolle admitted, "I chose Carson because she is my best friend. She is someone I can trust to lead the team like I have. She is someone who knows the game inside and out like me. She is someone who loves the game as mush as I do. She is someone I know who can take you to the State Championships again. She is," she took a quick breath before glaring at the stunned freshman, "you new captain. Someone that _both_ Coach Anderson and I agreed upon. Like. I. Had. Said." she said slowly as if she were speaking to a child who never learned and just kept making the some mistakes over.

Kendall and James watched in absolute awe as Nicolle put the out of line freshman in her place. It was impressive watching her speak to this group of girls with the air of authority and confidence around her.

"Now, is any one else questioning my decision?" she asked rhetorically, crossing her arms across her chest, just daring someone to say _something_. When no one spoke she gave them a curt nod.

"Good. That was all that need to be discussed." she told everyone. The team heard the underlining dismissal. They all came up to her and told her that they would miss her and they usually stuff.

It took ten minutes for it to be Nicolle, Carson, James and Kendall by themselves again. Nicolle was breathing steadily to calm herself, while the boys waited for them to do whatever needed to be finished. Carson, however, still looked shocked at her being named captain.

"Nicolle." she called out softly, waiting for the brunette to look at her before continuing, "Are you sure about your choice?" she asked wanting to be extra sure.

Nicolle, annoyed at being doubted, rolled her eyes before staring straight into Carson's brown eyes with a look of absolute seriousness in her own hazel orbs.

"I wouldn't have suggested it if I wasn't. Carson its your team now."

Carson couldn't really say anything so she just ended up nodding.

James was watching Nicolle carefully and could tell that she was upset with this change. With everything really. Both he and Kendall were waiting for the break down that was surly to come. The only thing was that he didn't know when it was going to happen and that worried him.

As the four walked to cars, where Ms. Knight and Carson's mom had waited, he slowed his steps knowing that she would match her pace to his. He waited when Kendall and Carson were a dew feet in front of them before he spoke.

"Are you _sure_ you're okay?"

Nicolle loved Carson, don't get her wrong. She thought of the blonde girl to be like a sister to her. She was her first friend when she moved to Chancellorsville and they had his off very quickly once they realized that they shared a love of soccer. She knew she could tell her absolutely _anything_ and she would be there but Nicolle just couldn't. She couldn't actually talk to her about _everything_ and it was simply because she was not James.

James was more than her best friend, more than her brother. He was everything she was not and she knew that to him she was everything he wasn't. They balanced each other out. It was that easy. It always amused them when they heard Kendall, Carlos, Logan and their families _try_ to describe the bond that they have. They always made it so much more complicated then it actually was.

They were, in a sense, soul mates.

Though, not of the romantic kind. Nicolle had the belief that someone could have more than one soul mate. To her there was a soul mate for every aspect of ones life, good and bad. To her, James will always be her best friend, through thick and thin. Always and forever.

So, really it came to no surprise to her that he had asked that because he _just knew._ so, she answered truthfully because he's the one who knows her secrets. He knows her.

All of her.

"No," she whispered, "but I think it will be." she leaned her head against his should and his arm wrapped around her waist as they neared her aunt.

_I know I will be, _she though when she got into to the backseat, sliding in next to Kendall.

* * *

**FEW DAYS LATER  
****LA, CALIFORNIA  
****PALM WOODS HOTEL  
****LOBBY**

She stared at the slightly boring looking lobby of the hotel for the 'Future Famous'. she was standing between Kendall and James (like everyday this week when they were together), a suitcase in each of their hands, with Ms. Knight standing behind them. She vaguely thought that there should be a little more color in the area.

The past few days were long, with her stressing over the more but everything had went smoothly. The day after she told the team of her leaving, they had returned to her _former_ home to finish packing. When she and the boy had entered the room, it was filled with more boxes then they had remembered. Also, without the guys knowledge there was an envelope with her name on it. She knew that Chase had written it and had done more packing for her and while she appreciated it, she was still furious with him.

She hadn't opened the letter and honestly didn't know if she ever would.

Also, her mom's lawyer had papers drawn up stating that Ashley had custody of her. Not _guardianship _but actually custody. That was another thing Kendall and James didn't know about and seeing she had yet to have _that_ particular break down she didn't know how long she cold hold off of them finding out.

Now, here she was. In Los Angeles to live with her aunt, two cousins, her best friend, one of her closets friends and her…_Logan._ Her mind had been so busy getting everything ready that she had forgotten about him or at least what he had done. And if she being honest he was the main reason why she felt so nervous. _How would he react seeing her? How would she react seeing him? What if they get into a fight? _These questions swarmed in her mind making her head hurt.

"Why don't we go to the apartment and then you can show Nicolle around, okay?" her aunt asked softly, despite there not being anyone in the lobby in the early afternoon, which was weird. Even Mr. Bitters was no where to be seen. Though Kendall was sure he heard some scuffling in his office.

The ride in elevator was silent, seeing as she hadn't spoken a since they had landed in LA and the boys didn't know what they could say to make her feel better. They just hoped seeing Carlos, Logan (though he being on the fence with her) and Katie would help. When their floor came up, they quickly made their way to apartment 2J.

She had seen pictures of their living area, before and after pictures, curtsey of Logan and Carlos, but nothing compared to the real thing. The only way she could describe it was that it fit her boys perfectly as she looked around. She chuckled inwardly at the sight of the swirly slide. _Of course._

"…must be at the pool."" she focused on the last part her aunt's sentence, though she must have been talking about Katie, Carlos and Logan as the apartment had been empty when they had entered.

She felt a hand rest on her shoulder causing her to look at the person. It was Kendall and his green eyes were trained on her, filled with so much concern that she struggled to breathe for a moment.

"You okay?" he asked, gaining the attention of his mother and James. Nicolle took a breath as debated the question in her head. She was silent for a few minutes.

"For now. Yeah." she admitted, "I think I'm going to change." she told them. Her aunt then proceeded to show her where the bathroom and her new room were.

"When you get settled we can decorate it anyway you want." he aunt said. The walls were a navy blue with black trimming. The carpeted floor was a couple shades lighter then the walls. There was a full size mattress with deep forest green bedding. Looking around the room she decided vaguely that it only needed some other pieces of furniture but that was really it.

She turned to her aunt.

"Thank you Aunt Ashley." she told the older woman sincerely. "For everything." Ashley quickly gathered Nicolle into her arms in a loving hug that brought tears into her muddy hazel eyes but she refused to let them fall. She sniffed quietly.

"Of course. I would do anything for you. You know that." she spoke honestly and Nicolle felt her heart mend by itself a little bit.

"Now, I'm going let you get changed. I'm sure you're excited to see Katie, Carlos and Logan." Nicolle flinched slightly at _his_ name but thankfully her aunt didn't noticed, so she merely smiled as she was left alone in the room. Once her aunt closed the door behind her softly she sighed, spinning slowly in a circle in the middle of the room taking in the room, before facing her suitcase.

The nerves came back again as her thoughts came back to her which meant that Logan came back to her mind. It was weird; she and Logan had so many fights - in person, on the phone and/or over e-mail - but she always knew that he never really meant what he was saying just like he knew she didn't mean what she said. So she never felt hurt (save for the fight after she informed them of her moving) but him simply not e-mailing her, ignoring her, caused something in her to break slightly. Maybe it was because she had a small crush on him around the time of her move and they were each others first kiss but she had a soft spot for the dark haired genius and he unknowingly stomped on that spot.

Shaking off those feelings for now she quickly changed out of her jeans, t-shirt and sweatshirt and into a pair a dark denim shorts that ended just above mid-thigh and a dark teal tank top. She slipped her feet into a simple pair of black canvas Converse shoes. She also pulled her hair out of its sloppy bun, since it was about to come undone and let it down. Her hair fell into wild waves as it landed on her shoulders.

She left the room, _her room, _before she could psyche herself out. Entering the living/dining/kitchen area, she saw Kendall and James standing by the door, talking to quietly to themselves about something that looked serious.

"Okay. I'm ready." she announced her presences to them as she stopped in front of the two now innocent looking boys. She narrowed her eyes, getting the feeling that they were planning something. She eventually rolled her eyes having an idea on what they were discussing.

"Whatever you're planning on doing to Logan. Don't." she said. They started protesting loudly at her words.

"What? Aww, come on. You said we could." Kendall whined. She raised a hand, stopping James from adding anything.

"This is _Logan_." she stressed out the boy's name, "He knows that you two are going to do something to him and he's going to expect it coming sooner rather then _later._" This time she put an emphasis on her last word, hoping they would understand where she was going.

Kendall must have gotten her hint as he now had a wide smirk plastered on his face. James though still looked confused.

"I don't get it."

"Make him _think_ that you're getting him soon but not actually do anything." She explained to her brunette best friend as they walked out of the apartment, "He'll get paranoid, thinking every move we make, every sound he hears, is us about to attack." she had an evil smirk oh her face, "He'll be so close to breaking that we'll simply let him out of his misery. Tell him that it was joke the whole time."

She watched as James ponder the idea in his head as they entered the elevator. He was still silent when it started its descent.

"So, we do nothing?" he asked. Nicolle grinned, nodding her head. He scoffed, not liking the idea.

"Where the fun in that?" he asked, rhetorically though Kendall answered it anyway.

"Think about it James. Logan like control and order. We mess with his head, making it look like we're plotting something against him but never _actually_ do it, he'll lose that sense of control and order because he'll be so worried when we'll strike." Kendall told him, "But then we don't because we never actually planned on anything."

James was about to answer when the elevator doors opened. She made a gesture telling them to stop speaking before following the two boys out.

As they made their way to the pool, her stomach tightened in knots. The butterflies were flapping wildly and she wondered why was getting so worked up about seeing her younger cousin and two other best friends but then again reflecting on her earlier thoughts she knew they had more to do with that one boy in particular then anyone else.

The pool was loud with talking and laughter, the noise rang in her ears a little painfully, compared to the quiet stillness of the lobby. However, once Kendall and James walked into the area it went silent, apparently not expecting for the other half of Big Time Rush to have return so soon or for them to have brought company.

Katie was sitting with Camille, Jo, Stephanie, and Carlos - Logan was at the studio having to do some vocals, just so Gustavo wouldn't get to annoyed from missing a week worth of work. He was due to be back anytime now - when the noise of the pool quieted and she saw the smiles on Camille and Jo's faces, not to mention the enormous grin on Carlos' face; she knew that her brother and James were back which meant that…

She spun around seeing Kendall and James reveal her to group. Katie paused, comparing this girl to the one she remembered from when she was five; the glasses, hair length, height, the clothing and something else that she really couldn't quite figure out, were different but there was no doubt about it. It was her.

"_Nicki!"_ Carlos yelled happily at the sight of his best friend. Quickly, letting go of Stephanie's hand he ran straight toward the girl. She was _finally_ here. Now, maybe she could get Logan to stop acting all miserable like he had been all week.

She took a few steps forward to meet him and soon enough he had his arms wrapped around her waist in a big hug. She laughed, wrapping her own arms around his neck, when he lifted her up. She felt a peace wash over her from the warmth of his hug. God, she missed him and his hugs because one thing was for sure - Carlos Garcia gave the best hugs. _Ever._

"I've missed you." he whispered softly, sounding so young for his age and once again her heart tugged at the sound. She tightened her arms around him, inhaling the smell of corndogs, soap and so _completely Carlos._

"I've missed you too Carlo." she told him just for his ears to hear. She pulled back when someone cleared their throat. Looking down, she saw Katie with her arms crossed, foot tapping impatiently and an annoyed look on her face - all pointed at Carlos. Nicolle couldn't help but grin at the younger girl's behavior, having been reminded of herself at her age.

"Look at you all grown up Katie-Kat." she said, knowing the nickname would annoy her even more. Katie's eyes snapped to hers and glared. Her grin merely grew bigger. Katie huffed annoyed that she wasn't affected to her glare like the guys were before she rolled her eyes and launched herself into her cousin's arms.

"Hi." she said pathetically as arms wrapped around her shoulders. She felt Nicolle chuckle slightly but decided to not to comment.

"Hi Katie." her cousin said softly, "You've been keeping our boys on their toes right?" she asked seriously. She felt Katie grin and nod rapidly against her stomach.

"Good." The approval in her voice made Katie light up as she pulled away, "Now, its my turn." she finished with a small devious smirk on her face.

She felt the familiar presences of Kendall and James come up behind her and the unfamiliar ones of three girls behind Katie. She looked up to see them and gave each one a once over trying to get a feel for these girls, who her cousins and friends cared a lot about.

The first one that caught her eyes was a dark skinned girl. Her skin tone was a shade or so darker then Carlos, who she noticed holding hands with before he had greeted her. _So, this must be Stephanie, _she thought. The girl had long straight black hair that ended about three inches below her shoulders with dark brown eyes that, she noted, sparkled when she looked at Carlos. She wore a pair of skinny jeans of dark blue denim with a pair of black flip-flops on her feet. A white t-shirt, that complimented her skin nicely, was underneath a grey cardigan.

Another dark haired brunette stood next to her. Her hair was curly that fell onto her shoulders with also dark brown eyes that shined when her gaze landed on James. _Camille,_ she guessed. She had a mole above the corner of her upper lip and an easy going smile. She wore white jean shorts that were like her own pair and had white flip-slops on her own feet. She also wore a flowing floral print top.

Finally, there was a blonde haired girl with simple milk chocolate eyes. Her skin was slightly pale, which was odd being in California. Her hair was also in waves like her own but were softer and therefore not as wild. She had a kind smile that grew when she had spotted Kendall. _And this has to be Jo,_ she figured. She wore light blue skinny jeans with a simple pair of blue and white tennis shoes and blue tank top.

Looking at the three girls, Nicolle had the feeling that the four of them were going to be great friends. Especially since it seemed that her cousin and best friends _like_ these girls. _Did Logan meet someone?_ she shook that question off her mind as quickly as it came along with the burning acid like taste in her mouth. That was _not_ something she needed to think or worry about right now. If ever really.

"Guys, I want you to meet my cousin Nicolle Dalton." Kendall said from behind her. She gave them a slightly shy wave.

"And these are out friends. This is Stephanie," the dark skinned girl waved, "Camille," the dark brunette smiled, "and Jo." the blonde girl gave her a nervous smile and wave after James finished speaking.

"It's nice to finally meet you. Carlos, Logan and Katie have spoken so much about you this last week." Stephanie said, grinning at the bashful look Carlos gave her. Nicolle resisted the urge to 'Aww' at the couple. _Adorable._

Before she could say anything, another voice cut into the introductions.

"Hey, what's going on? Why is it so quiet?" It asked. The tone was deeper from puberty and it sounded confused but it still made her heart race, something that no other boy had been able to do, as she turned around.

There he was. Standing there looking both shocked and saddened at the sight of her. Now, she has seen pictures of him in magazines, on the web and seen interviews when they were promoting the band, so she knew that he grew up to a very handsome guy but a magazine nor a television did any justice to the person.

Short dark brown hair in spike at the front, deep dark colored eyes that shined with intelligence, a pretty decent body from hockey and dancing and an absolutely gorgeous smile that always managed to take her breath away at the sight, no matter how or when she saw it. It was certainly him.

"Nicki?"

_Logan._

* * *

_There you have it! Chapter 3. You saw how Carlos meets Nicolle, Kendall and James, that her father was sick around the same time, that in order for Nicolle to feel like herself after in detachment phase she needs all four of the guys, Carlos' point of view on the Nicolle/James bond, some of Nicolle's thoughts and feelings on Logan and that Carlos gives the best hugs! Which is probably true. LOL._

_Now I honestly don't know when Chapter 4 will be up. I only have a few pages written up but I will honestly try to get up in the next week and a half. If I don't I give you permission to throw things at me via the internet. LOL._

_Anyways, reviews are loved and they will make me force me to go faster. _

_-ARF._


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